Pros & Cons: Living on the Half Moon Bay Coastside
The San Mateo county Coastside is a part of the Bay Area that has been largely undiscovered by many people locally. Today, I’m going to tell you about the pros and cons of living on the Coastside. I’m Sean Engmann a Realtor with Coldwell Banker based on the Coastside in Half Moon Bay. As I am a transplant to the Coast having been born and raised in San Francisco, I have the unique perspective of seeing it both as a local and as a transplant. The Coastside of San Mateo county, as opposed to the more popular and much more populated Bayside, consists primarily of Half Moon Bay to Pacifica but extends south beyond Pescadero. Half Moon Bay is perhaps best known for its Pumpkin Festival every October and Pacifica for its Fog Fest each September. The area is also host to the world renowned Maverick’s surfing competition every year and is home to several well-known restaurants, including Sam’s Chowder House and the Moss Beach Distillery. The first pro and con about living on the Coastside is its isolation, particularly in the areas south of Pacifica. Only three roads connect the south of the coastside to the rest of the county – Highway 1, Highway 92 and Highway 84. Surrounded by mountains and an ocean, the area is physically isolated, and that isolation gets exacerbated by any road closures. Major accidents at Devil’s Slide that shut Highway 1 in both directions tend to occur every couple of months, and both Highways 92 and 84 are prone to shutdown during bad weather. On the best of days, it’s a 20-25 minute drive to reach the rest of San Mateo county or San Francisco, which is a deterrent for some, and traffic in and out of the area can be difficult on weekends and holidays especially. The pro about the isolation is that there is a sense of community on the Coastside that really can’t be found anywhere else in the Bay Area. The towns are small, so people in the area tend to know each other very well. Coastside Gives is an annual charity event that really brings people on the Coastside together. There’s a shared experience here that is unique and draws many people to the community on the Coast. The area is also very supportive of its local schools and businesses. A second pro is that the outdoor activity is unmatched anywhere else in San Mateo county. There’s a reason why so many people drive here to go to the beaches – they are spectacular. There are hiking trails abound and lots to do if you love the outdoors, especially if you love to surf. If you’re looking for great nightlife, you’ll need to go over the hill or into the City. Most places close up shop early, and while places like Old Princeton Landing do have some great live music, you’re not going to be able to find much to do on the Coast after 10, and getting back here after a night out somewhere else can be challenging. The lack of walkability or accessibility via public transit on the Coastside can be an issue to many people coming from more urban areas. The Coastside is relatively spread out and has very minimal bus service, so if you want to go somewhere, chances are you need to drive to do so. On the weekends, driving from town to town can be a bit challenging due to traffic – at least until you learn some local shortcuts. While the nightlife may not be there, there is plenty to do during the day, even if you’re not up for the outdoors life. Main Street in Half Moon Bay features great shopping from local merchants, and there is no shortage of quality restaurants in the area, especially downtown and in the harbor area. Ketch Joanne, Barbara’s Fish Trap, Mezzaluna and the Half Moon Bay brewing company are all excellent choices in the harbor. There are also several pop-up markets, like the second Saturdays market in the harbor featuring great food and local merchandise. The weather is another pro or con depending on how you look at it. While the Coast is known for its fog, the fog isn’t really that prevalent everywhere, especially back in the valley. Coastal temperatures are cooler and more temperate than places further inland, especially during the summer. Air conditioning is not needed here on the Coast, except maybe a couple days a year. The schools in the Half Moon Bay area are run by the Cabrillo Unified School district while in Pacifica the schools are run by the Jefferson Union School district out of Daly City. The schools are closely aligned with and well supported by the community. For those seeking private options, Pacific Bay in Pacifica is the closest option for high school in the area and there are other smaller private schools at the grammar school level. The best other options are in the City and over the hill. In terms of affordability, the Coastside is one of the most affordable areas in which to live when looking at the median price points of homes. It is isolated, but a short drive to the rest of the county, San Francisco and Silicon Valley, and it boasts a strong sense of local pride and community. In terms of scenic and natural beauty, living on the Coast is majestic and you are surrounded by natural beauty. If you’d like more information about living on the Coastside, please feel free to leave a comment below. If you are considering buying or selling here on the Coast, I’d love to help you, just give me a call at: 650-238-9210.
Bay Area Real Estate Market Update - August 2022
Is the Bay Area real estate market really shifting? Is it about to crash? Let’s dig deep into the market to separate the hype from reality and find out what’s really going on right now in the market.The perception right now is that the market is shifting and the data supports that perception. With that said, context is extremely important in order to properly evaluate what’s happening and weed out the hyperbole. The reality is that the shift that we’re experiencing now is a return from an extreme seller’s market to the type of seller’s market we have experienced for the better part of the last 10 years.The shift can be seen across many metrics, but let’s start with the absorption rate. Focusing on single family homes in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties, the absorption rate, measuring pending sales versus inventory, has precipitously fallen as interest rates have risen, going from 203.7 percent in March to 58.9 percent in July. Keep in mind, traditionally, anything above 33 percent is considered a seller’s market. For perspective, the absorption rate in the same area in the first quarter of 2008 was at 10.2 percent. Virtually all of the drop in the absorption rate results from a reduction in demand as interest rates took off from an average of 3.9 percent on March 1st to 5.6 percent on August 19th with a peak of 6.28 percent in June. The supply side continues to be very tight with the number of new listings Bay Area wide in July off nearly 20 percent year over year. In fact, the number of new listings on the market has declined year over year for 12 consecutive months. A falling absorption rate despite fewer new listings points to a substantial reduction in demand. Taking a look at metrics that are more indicative of what’s happening on the ground, the shifting dynamics of the market as well as the fact that we remain in a strong seller’s market are both apparent. Bay Area wide, the sales to list ratio in July fell to 104.5 percent from 109.5 percent in June and the median days on market increased by 3 days to 14. In April, the sales to list ratio peaked at 116.5 percent with a median days on market of 8. That means that homes are taking nearly twice as long to sell as they were at the peak of demand and that homes are selling much closer to list price. Both are indicators of reducing demand and adjustments being made to pricing and marketing strategies.Looking at county data, it’s important to note that in every Bay Area county, the average home is still selling above list price in 3 weeks or less. Both are indicators of a market that still favors sellers, though demand has fallen off to a level closer to the available supply due to money becoming more expensive.In terms of median price, values fell across the Bay Area from June to July, with the largest drop occurring in San Mateo county with the median price dropping to $1.8 million from $2.048 million in June. The median home sales price in San Francisco also fell to $1.67 million. Median prices throughout the Bay Area have been trending down since their peaks in April, and while falling prices are certainly alarming for home owners, it’s important to put those numbers in context. The median home in the Bay Area in July sold for more than 20 percent more than pre-pandemic levels.So what’s happening on the ground? The most obvious thing is that homes are now selling and being evaluated at closer to list price than they had been. The falloff in median sales price correlates well with the reduction in sales to list ratio, meaning that buyers are no longer paying as high a premium above list price as they were at the peak of the market. In San Francisco and Alameda, we’re still seeing sales to list ratios closer to 110 percent. Those numbers are off 10 to 15 points from their levels in April. The buyers who are still in the market are evaluating homes closer to the list price and are less concerned about getting into bidding wars. We’re also seeing more below list offers and more contingent offers, meaning getting a property ready to sell is as important as ever to sellers.Where do we go from here? Interest rates are likely to continue to rise, which may further stifle demand and push people out of the market. I believe median prices will begin to stabilize as buyers and sellers get acclimated to the new conditions of the market and we settle into a more normal market. I don’t see the conditions necessary to precipitate a collapse of the market, particularly in the Bay Area where homeowners hold lots of equity. With money more expensive, there will be fewer buyers, and with homeowners holding lots of equity and mortgages at historically low rates, inventory will likely remain low, meaning reduced volume until we see either a significant reduction in rates or an event which leads many people to sell. Neither appears to be on the horizon right now.
CMA - The best way to affordably know the value of your home
Want to know what your home is worth, but don’t trust Estimates or automated valuations? You’ve come to the right place. I’m Sean Engmann, a Realtor with Coldwell Banker. I have an MBA and am a certified real estate negotiation expert with nearly 2 decades of executive level business experience. There are several ways to find out the market value of your home. You can have it appraised, but that will likely take several weeks and cost you $500 - $1000. Generally, you should only have the home appraised as part of a home purchase or refinance. In an extreme up market, appraisals may also lag behind the current market value by a few weeks, as that’s how long it takes homes to close escrow. Another way to determine value is to request an instant cash offer, but these values are typically, considerably below market value as they’re made by investors hoping to make a profit on the home. They can be useful, though, for establishing the floor value of the home. The best and most affordable way to get an accurate understanding of your home’s value is to get a comparative market analysis, or CMA done by a Realtor. A CMA is a report which shows all of the similar homes in the immediate area of your home that have recently sold, that are currently on the market or, are currently under contract. It also shows any homes that may have been listed but were withdrawn from the market. The Realtor then looks at the data and provides an estimated value of the home. Realtors do CMAs based upon market data and/or discussions with homeowners. While those CMAs are more useful than automated valuations because they provide context, they are nowhere near as accurate as CMAs where the Realtor actually visits the home and walks through it. There are so many nuances about a home that you just don’t get without being there in person. I can’t tell you the number of times I drove to a home with a value in mind, and then that value changed once I walked into the home. If you’re interested in having a CMA done on your home, just click below and enter your address and contact info. I will provide a range of automated values. Then, I’ll give you the option for me to send over a CMA or for you to schedule one with me in-person. Thanks and I look forward to helping you find the value of your home! Sean Engmamm Sean.Engmann@CBRealty.com
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