A recent claim that San Mateo Townhouse prices were dropping was surprising because the townhouse cited as an example was a 4-bedroom unit. Studio and 1-bedroom condos do have low demand, but "family-sized" townhouses have generally had balanced demand with almost flat prices since 2019. From 2011 until about 2020, townhouse appreciation matched that of single-family houses.The townhouse was part of the new Pulte Homes "Heights" development, which has three collections. The 4-bedroom unit was part of the "Elevate" collection, which features rooftop decks and is the most expensive.Townhouse Price HistoryThe specific townhouse cited as an example has a price history:2020/01/17 Listed $2,774,990 or $1,082/sqft2025/09/28 Reduced $2,724,990 or $1,062/sqft down 1.8%2025/11/16 Reduced $2,524,990 or $984/sqft down 7.3%The Zillow listing is for a buildable plan, not a specific unit. The current average and median sales price for San Mateo townhouses is about $900/sqft, so the reduced price is roughly 9% higher…
House prices in cities near San Francisco have been appreciating more slowly than in San Mateo. San Mateo house price appreciation is barely higher than that of San Mateo County.House Price AppreciationIf house price trends in San Mateo County are carefully examined, 2018 appears to have been a turning point for house prices. The short-term spikes in 2018 and in early 2022 are very noticeable, but the trend from late 2018 to 2026 is flatter than that from 2012 to 2018.In early 2022, house prices fell further from their 1st-quarter 2022 peak for cities near San Francisco than for San Mateo.Age Of Houses SoldIf the age of the houses sold in a city such as San Bruno, located close to SF, is compared to San Mateo, there is a significant difference beginning in mid 2019.The faint red line shows the average age of houses sold in San Mateo, while the…
Many cities have enacted ordinances to protect various trees within their city. A long-time Palo Alto homeowner recently achieved a court ruling forcing his neighbor to remove Coast Redwood Trees whose roots were damaging his house. The legal actions were made more difficult by a real estate agent who indemnified the buyer of the house in order to get the house sold.A short summary by the long-time owner: In 2021, I sued my neighbor, with a one-sided result in my favor. I claimed for damage under state law #3479, and my neighbor’s ONLY defense was: “I was complying with PA’s tree ordinance”. The PA ordinance will not win against superseding state law. The 7-page opinion of the state judge never even mentioned the PA ordinance because it’s irrelevant against state law. But I still was forced to sue and pay my (winning) legal fees. My neighbor chose foolishly to go…
Although JLee Realty does not handle rental properties for clients, we watch what is happening in it to better understand San Mateo real estate. On Sept 17, 2023, the San Jose Mercury News published an article titled “Bay Area rents see biggest drop in 27 months“. The article presents the ease of finding a one-bedroom apartment near Lake Merritt. The article cites ApartmentList.com as a source for the trends they cite, including a 3.1% year-over-year decline for the San Jose/Sunnyvale/Santa Clara metro area.The housing rental market has weakened, but the headline could create a misleading impression. The sky is not falling for the rental market. Look at the graph below created by Zumper.com.The peak rental price for a 2-bedroom apartment was reached in Aug-Sept of 2022. The “biggest drop” is being calculated from a price peak and isn’t a good choice for judging long-term trends. I’m looking at two-bedroom rental…
The San Mateo City average house price rose in line with previous quarters, but the San Mateo City median house price spiked up. The details of San Mateo real estate show that in the third quarter, the average size of houses sold was up 10%. Examination of other San Mateo County cities revealed that eight other cities (Foster City, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Pacifica, Portola Valley, San Carlos, & Woodside) also had a significant house size increase as of the Aug 18 close of escrow data. Examining more of Silicon Valley revealed that Palo Alto was the only city in Santa Clara County to have a similar increase in the size of houses sold. With no other significant changes seen in the trends of those cities, it is hard to assign a cause. Perhaps the continuing problems reported for the city of San Francisco have changed the long-term…
A 1031 exchange is used to defer taxes on the sale of your investment property when your proceeds are invested in a new investment property. Although you probably consider a house you bought with the intention of flipping to be an investment, it is not considered by the IRS to be a property that was bought for investment purposes and thus does not allow it to be used in a 1031 exchange.Tax professionals recommend keeping an investment property obtained in a 1031 exchange for two years as a rental property. Some professionals will say that one year plus one day is sufficient for the 1031 exchange to avoid an IRS challenge.In 2008 the IRS issued a safe harbor rule saying it would not challenge the 1031 exchange because of the sale of your replacement property if:You rent the dwelling unit to another person at a fair rental price for 14…