Hillsborough, Burlingame Luxury Homes Real Estate

San Mateo is the largest city in the mid-Peninsula with about 90,000 residents.  Prices for San Mateo spread far and wide.  Last week the range went from a low of $300,000 to a high of $3,395,000 - quite a spread and significantly different kinds of houses.  Today I am going to write about the entire city and then talk about the individual zip codes tomorrow.  With such a dramatic spread of prices the median priced house drops to $749,000 and it’s likely to be a 3 bedroom 2 bath rancher with about 1400 square feet sitting on a lot of around 6000 square feet.   It was probably built shortly after WWII. 

Average Days on Market

Overall, the average number of days on the market has risen to 90.  It’s certainly lower than it has been this year but higher than you might expect during the summer buying months.  Keep in mind the average days on the market DOM, is for the entire city including the areas deeply affected by the sub-prime lending mess.  The areas west of El Camino where the high priced homes sit, generally is moving a little faster.

Inventory of Houses

Along with the increased number of DOM, we see an increase in the number of houses for sale.  We have not seen this large a selection of houses for years so if you are a pre-approved buyer, the time to buy is now since you can choose from so many homes.  If you are a first-time buyer, take advantage of the tax credit that Congress has given to you for this year only.  Up to $7500 in tax credits for first-time buyers is hard to resist and this, along with all of the traditional write-offs for homeownership will be a nice gift come tax time in 2009.

Median Prices for San Mateo Houses

You can easily see when the top of the market was in San Mateo!  It looks like the peak was around the first or second week of January in 2007 and things have gone downhill since.  That is, until now, with a jump up this summer that appears to be sustaining.  Time to move on that purchase if you’re on the fence.

Market Action Index

Our research company, Altos Research uses an algorithm to divide a Buyer’s Market from a Seller’s Market.  The red line at 30 is that line.  We hit bottom in first quarter of this year and have been bouncing along, a little upward, but bouncing none the less in at a Cold! Buyer’s Market with the number 19.  This is city-wide, all zip codes.  As I show you tomorrow, it’s a little different in each zip code within the city.

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