The Wilkas Group » Burlingame realtors

Burlingame Market Report for May 2011

lenorewilkas — Sun, 05 Jun 2011 16:30:39 +0000

You’re looking at a snapshot of the real estate market for Burlingame California from last week. This is as close to real time as one an get. Forget what you hear on the news. Forget what you read in the papers about the Case-Shiller report. This is the real skinny of what’s happening locally. The other things you’re hearing are like painting a picture with a broad brush and wiping out every detail the eye can see. Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo and Foster City are the cities I write about and sell real estate within and know. Case-Shiller knows nothing about our market so they talk about the Bay Area without understanding the macro version. Each community is unique within San Mateo County and our communities are not distressed. We see very few short sales and bank owned properties in Burlingame.

Look at this chart for Burlingame single family homes. Trends for last week were down from the week before, but trends move up and down weekly. Real estate is not a static medium and when there are only a few homes for sale within a market it’s impossible not to see swings up and down with just the sale of one property, depending on its price. Remember there are 7739 homes in Burlingame.

Now let’s see the monthly Burlingame market data to compare the market., We are seeing more homes pending sale, which is good. People are out shopping for new homes and taking out loans, and making life decisions.

We are seeing incredible lending values. Historically low interest rates, in face, that can’t possibly stay like this very much longer. What happens when the Fed finally raises interest? Your affordability will diminish, that’s what will happen. Today you might be able to afford a home for $1.5 million at 4% interest but what happens when interest rises to 5%? Your affordability will drop and you might not be able to buy into Burlingame.

We are happy to show you these things in detail so you can make an intelligent decision about buying a new home. Real estate is not an investment like stocks and bonds are, it’s a property that allows you to put down roots into a community and grow a family. It allows you to have a sense of security and ownership. It’s really important that you stop thinking about a home being your piggy bank, because it isn’t and should never become one. We want to see some appreciation of the purchase of a home so you can leverage it into a larger home down the road, but the days of insane increase of value are long gone. Appreciation is going to be about 3% a year so you will want to stay in your home for 5 or more years in order to leverage it to another one. That’s the way your parents thought about buying a home, that’s the way I thought about buying a home and now you must think that way too.

In our corner of the Peninsula it is not cheaper to rent, if you can find a decent rental. It is cheaper to buy and take the tax advantages that home ownership offer you. We don’t have enough rental property to fill the needs here, so don’t think that’s your answer because it’s not. Don’t sit on the fence waiting of prices to drop because even if they do, even a little bit, when interest rates go up you will end up paying considerably more for the same house at a lower price with higher payments and will have lost the months of deductions you could have taken for taxes while sitting on that fence. Buying a home is a long-term purchase not something you buy and flip. Think of it this way and you’ll want to own. Think of it any other way and in the long run you’ll be the loser.

Here’s what’s currently for sale in Burlingame homes.

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 6. See more city of Burlingame real estate.
(all data current as of 2/12/2012)

$1,250,000 : 1144 Capuchino Av, Burlingame

0 beds, 0 baths

Home size: 4,696 sq ft

Lot size: 5,750 sq ft
$924,900 : 421 California Dr, Burlingame

0 beds, 0 baths

Lot size: 4,080 sq ft
$1,580,000 : 865 California Dr, Burlingame

0 beds, 0 baths

Home size: 4,600 sq ft

Lot size: 6,156 sq ft
$1,380,000 : 857 California Dr, Burlingame

0 beds, 0 baths

Home size: 3,300 sq ft

Lot size: 7,855 sq ft
$1,395,000 : 1324 El Camino Real, Burlingame

0 beds, 0 baths

Home size: 5,490 sq ft

Lot size: 6,950 sq ft

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Here’s what’s currently for sale in Burlingame condo and townhouses.

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 10. See more city of Burlingame real estate.
(all data current as of 2/12/2012)

$599,000 : 30 Lorton Av #205, Burlingame

2 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,258 sq ft
$499,000 : 1532 Floribunda Av #3, Burlingame

2 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,190 sq ft
$578,000 : 1110 Bayswater Av #105, Burlingame

2 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,245 sq ft
$439,000 : 1515 Floribunda Av #304, Burlingame

1 bed, 1 full bath

Home size: 935 sq ft
$249,000 : 777 Morrell Av #103, Burlingame

1 bed, 1 full bath

Home size: 880 sq ft

Lot size: 880 sq ft

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

The Wilkas Group is here to assist you in the purchase or sale of your home. We bring our expertise, skills and excellent to all of our clients. You can contact us above by clicking the the Contact Us! link, or try to chat real time. We’re here to be your advocate.

How’s the Market in Burlingame CA 2.03.11?

lenorewilkas — Thu, 03 Feb 2011 22:10:50 +0000

How’s the market doing? It’s a question we get often and one that doesn’t have a simple answer. It’s not necessarily good or bad, it depends. It depends on whether you want to buy, sell, invest, rent or are just curious to know if you home’s value has stopped dropping.

The chart above shows the median price for Burlingame homes in 2010 versus 2011. Obviously we’re only a month into 2011 so who really knows what’s to come for sure. The signs are looking favorable, though. Prices have gone down over the past year. Whether they continue to drop is anyone’s guess but one thing we are pretty confident about is that interest rates will go up. So even if the house of your dreams drops a little after you buy it, what’s the worry if you have a loan at historic low interest rates? Rising interest versus dropping prices equals bigger payments. If you don’t believe me I have a chart I can send you to show this to you, just ask.

I’m beginning a monthly tracking of the market for Burlingame single family homes. The chart below is January( into the first 3 days of February). There are 30 homes for sale, 19 are pending sale and under contract and since the first of the year 2 homes have sold. The average price for a house in Burlingame right now is $1,266,656.

Here’s what’s currently for sale in Burlingame. If you see something give us a call at 650-696-2820 for a showing.

Showing properties 1 - 30 of 34. See more city of Burlingame real estate.
(all data current as of 2/12/2012)

$1,749,500 : 2827 Hillside Dr, Burlingame

3 beds, 4 full baths

Home size: 2,990 sq ft

Lot size: 12,096 sq ft
$879,000 : 209 Channing Rd, Burlingame

2 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,620 sq ft

Lot size: 5,750 sq ft
$1,295,000 : 1138 Douglas Av, Burlingame

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,500 sq ft

Lot size: 5,544 sq ft
$2,550,000 : 3066 Hillside Dr, Burlingame

4 beds, 4 full baths

Home size: 4,200 sq ft

Lot size: 10,640 sq ft
$1,595,000 : 2673 Martinez Dr, Burlingame

4 beds, 3 full baths

Home size: 2,100 sq ft

Lot size: 11,650 sq ft
$799,000 : 418 Dwight Rd, Burlingame

2 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,140 sq ft

Lot size: 5,000 sq ft
$999,950 : 1248 Capuchino Av, Burlingame

3 beds, 3 full baths

Home size: 1,897 sq ft

Lot size: 6,000 sq ft
$1,295,000 : 1512 Ralston Av, Burlingame

3 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 1,990 sq ft

Lot size: 7,896 sq ft
$2,120,000 : 1506 Vancouver Av, Burlingame

5 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 3,000 sq ft

Lot size: 6,000 sq ft
$1,199,000 : 1785 Hunt Dr, Burlingame

4 beds, 3 full baths

Home size: 2,200 sq ft

Lot size: 10,730 sq ft
$1,995,000 : 1612 Ralston Av, Burlingame

4 beds, 3 full baths

Home size: 2,803 sq ft

Lot size: 8,050 sq ft
$699,000 : 1532 Barroilhet Av, Burlingame

2 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,000 sq ft

Lot size: 3,100 sq ft
$1,675,000 : 1407 Montero Av, Burlingame

4 beds, 3 full baths

Home size: 2,615 sq ft

Lot size: 6,100 sq ft
$1,458,000 : 1551 Los Montes Dr, Burlingame

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 2,800 sq ft

Lot size: 8,052 sq ft
$1,158,888 : 1500 Alturas Dr, Burlingame

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,590 sq ft

Lot size: 9,000 sq ft
$1,298,000 : 2928 Hillside Dr, Burlingame

3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 1,825 sq ft

Lot size: 6,900 sq ft
$2,800,000 : 16 Davis Ct, Burlingame

5 beds, 4 full baths

Home size: 5,000 sq ft

Lot size: 31,000 sq ft
$1,949,000 : 10 Tiptoe Ln, Burlingame

5 beds, 3 full baths

Home size: 3,260 sq ft

Lot size: 25,375 sq ft
$2,575,000 : 1116 Drake Av, Burlingame

5 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 3,065 sq ft

Lot size: 7,560 sq ft
$618,888 : 1493 Oak Grove Av, Burlingame

2 beds, 1 full bath

Home size: 1,190 sq ft

Lot size: 4,280 sq ft
$733,000 : 1491 Oak Grove Av, Burlingame

2 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,300 sq ft

Lot size: 4,360 sq ft
$2,850,000 : 3004 Hillside Dr, Burlingame

5 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 4,500 sq ft

Lot size: 11,250 sq ft
$1,595,000 : 1361 Vancouver Av, Burlingame

4 beds, 3 full baths

Home size: 1,830 sq ft

Lot size: 6,000 sq ft
$1,778,000 : 2417 Hale Dr, Burlingame

4 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 2,640 sq ft

Lot size: 4,950 sq ft
$1,899,000 : 1465 Drake Av, Burlingame

4 beds, 4 full baths

Home size: 2,718 sq ft

Lot size: 6,000 sq ft
$3,499,943 : 5 La Strada Ct, Burlingame

6 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 6,325 sq ft

Lot size: 11,778 sq ft
$639,000 : 104 Peninsula Av, Burlingame

4 beds, 3 full baths

Home size: 2,030 sq ft

Lot size: 5,136 sq ft
$1,895,000 : 165 Tiptoe Ln, Burlingame

4 beds, 3 full baths

Home size: 3,880 sq ft

Lot size: 14,747 sq ft
$1,299,000 : 1530 La Mesa Dr, Burlingame

3 beds, 2 full baths

Home size: 1,640 sq ft

Lot size: 12,829 sq ft
$2,195,000 : 23 Tiara Ct, Burlingame

5 beds, 5 full, 1 part baths

Home size: 3,940 sq ft

Lot size: 12,911 sq ft

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Burlingame Market Report 8.25.09: Burlingame, CA

lenorewilkas — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:19:51 +0000

The market, she is a-changing. Last week Burlingame had 85 houses for sale and the average time they have been on the market is about 70 days. The inventory is increasing and so is the time it is taking to sell a property. There could be several reasons for this: One, being the difficulty in buyer’s getting loans; Two, the problems the real estate industry across the county is having with appraisals coming in accurately; and Three, these houses are move-up properties and the people wanting to move up to Burlingame can’t get their houses sold either. So much for the housing stimulus in San Mateo County.

The Median priced house last week was $1,388,000. The Average priced house was $1,564,274. The most expensive house for sale last week in Burlingame was listed at $3,395,000 and the least expensive house was listed at $514,900, the one and only Bank Owned property in Burlingame. By the way, there are 12 Short Sales in Burlingame.

We are seeing fewer houses being re-listed and my guess is because listing are now being taken for up to 1 year rather than 90 days like it used to be done. Prices are being reduced in 40% of all listings. What does this tell you? Prices are still too high so if a house doesn’t sell it is because of the price. Many people are trying to sell before their loans reset to higher interest rates — these are the ARM and alt-A ARMS that were taken out by many buyers during the real estate frenzy 3-7 years ago. They were the 3/1, 5/1 and 7/1 hybrid loans so many people took advantage of to buy a house. Some of these loans will be fine and will reset into prevailing rates, many will not, and we in the real estate community, expect to see a tsunami coming forth in our area of San Mateo County. Nationwide over half a million loans (523,000) are due to reset in 2009 alone!

The Market Segments

Our wonderful research company, Altos Research, divides the market into quartiles to show how each segment of the market is different from the other in price and property. The top Quartile is doing the best, but the houses sold last week had huge price reductions prior to selling. A house sells if the price is right. Generally the bottom Quartile moves faster in Burlingame because it has been the entry to this great town but not in this case. It’s languishing and I must guess the reason is due to the difficulty in getting loans. It’s only a guess…..

Prices in Burlingame have dropped over the past couple of years but clearly they’re still high and trending that way, yet we’re seeing 40% of all listings getting price reductions so some how there is a disconnect with the sellers in Burlingame. Price matter and it is still mostly too high or these houses would be selling.

The Market Action Index clearly shows that Burlingame hit bottom around March of this year bounced up a bit, and has stayed around the level since. Burlingame is a Strong Buyer’s Market and sits at 16, well below the line that moves it into Seller’s Market, at 30. There are seller’s markets today, believe it or not, but not on the Peninsula. We are still short housing for the number of people living here but clearly the prices in Burlingame are not reflecting this.

Burlingame, California, 94010, is still one of the sought after communities to live in on the San Francisco Peninsula because of the fine schools and beauty of the community. If you want to live in Burlingame you will have to pay a lot of money and if you are lucky enough to either have a loan approved, or money in the bank in order to pay full cash, the selection of houses is very plentiful.

I have a complete report with more data on Burlingame available for you, but you must ask for it. Click on the Contact Us button and make your request.