Tuesday is our Broker Tour Day.  We get a list of all new listings available for us to see on Tuesday by late afternoon on Monday.  Belmont, generally one of the hidden gems in our Fantasy Island had 10 homes over $1 Million Dollars today. Belmont had a total of 14 new properties on tour.  That’s saying something.

Altos Research sent me their latest data yesterday.  Last week the average priced home in Belmont was $1,085,968 and the median priced home was $999,000.  Bet that changes next week.  Only 3 properties sold and 1/3 of the listings had price reductions.  Altos tells me that Belmont is a Cold!Buyers Market. Youd never know it looking at how prices have risen and inventory has climbed since the first of the year.

Heres whats telling me that we might be past the bottom of the early 2008 market. Heres the Market Action Index. The Market Action Index illustrates the balance between supply and demand using a statistical function of the current rate of sale versus current inventory.

See the little curve upward at the end of the downward line?  That’s the first indicator that things have changed.  What happens next week, and again the following week will tell us more, but something is going on in Belmont.  Generally when the bottom end of a market improves that is a signal that the rest of the market is strengthening.  This is something Ill be watching and reporting back about.

The price of single family homes is a function of supply and demand. Its simple economics at its best.  While Belmont is still a strong buyers market prices for new listings are coming to market at much higher prices than one would expect to see in a cold buyers market.  So what gives?

Inventory levels have been relatively consistent to sales but my bet is those new houses coming to market at these high prices may not sustain those prices for long.  I bet well see a lot of price reductions unless all of the buyers out there, waiting and waiting for something to happen, decide to make offers.

We subscribe to Altos Research for all seven of the cities we cover.  If you want detailed information about your town, let me know.

Belmont is a small communities sitting between San Mateo and San Carlos, generally up in the hills.  There are some fabulous views from some of these homes and of course, the better the view, the more the house costs.

Belmont is the home to Notre Dame de Namur University, a private Catholic co-ed university in the heart of the town.  The Belmont-Redwood Shores Elementary School District has four elementary schools and one intermediate school.  They feed into Sequoia Union High School District’s Carlmont High School or children attend the private Notre Dame High School.

Prices for homes in Belmont are heading down a bit.  Altos Research believes there will be a persistent down-shift in the Market Action Index before we see prices deviate from these levels.

The Market Action Index is in the Cool Buyer’s zone at 24. Keep in mind that 30 is the line between cool
and warm, and it is not strongly into Cool Buyer’s so Altos Research believes that buyers should expect to find reasonable levels of selection in homes for sale.  This is indicated to be so, with the 51 houses for sale and only 31% of those has seen price reductions.

Houses are staying on the market a little less than some of our other cities, at 46 days average.
Belmont is across 101 from Redwood Shores where Oracle  and Electronic Arts are headquartered.  It’s an easy commute south to the Silicon Valley or up to San Francisco.

If you’d like to see a more in-depth report about Belmont please let us know.  We’re here to serve you
in all of your real estate needs.

Belmont Market Report

The median priced home in Belmont last week was $950,000.  The most expensive home on the market was listed at $1,888,000.  In Belmont it is still possible to find a reasonably priced home, for San Mateo
County that is.

The average days on the market is the lowest of any of the towns we cover, 38 days.  There were 47 homes for sale last week and Belmont is a Warm Seller’s Market.

Homes sell for as little as the low $700,000′s up to the high one million.  In the hills one can find some very special views that range from San Francisco down to the
Silicon Valley.  Homes are generally around 1800 feet, lots can be large but unusable due to hill pitch, so they often are over several levels with multiple decks.

Belmont schools are good, the weather is mild and the commute either to the City or Valley is comvenient.  Altos Research has provide my data and if you want more give us a call.

Belmont sits between 101 on the east and 280 on the west . Most of the houses in Belmont sit up in the
hills and many offer spectacular views of the Bay, San Francisco or the South Bay areas. The feeling of the town is much more rural than any of the other communities I’ve talked about with many streets narrow and
lacking sidewalks.

The median price last week was $1,054,000. The median sized home is a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home around 1800 square feet. Demand is increasing in Belmont, perhaps because it is considered affordable? More homes are coming on to the market and they’re staying there longer. Prices have held pretty steady according the the Market Action Index. Altos Research tells me that last week there were 36 single family homes on the market for an average of 87 days.

Belmont is slightly in the Warm Seller’s area at a 41 index. This means demand is relatively strong but the available supply of homes aren’t necessarily being snapped up immediately. Belmont offers a good
elementary public school district and the local hight school, Carlmont, which is a part of the Sequoia School District. It has an easy commute to the major employment centers around here.

Tomorrow, last, but not least, will be San Carlos.