Looking for a Bargain? See Alameda's Top 15

In this current economic time everyone is looking for a bargain, so I thought I would give you Alameda's top 15 based on the percentage of price reduction.


Looking at the list these homes have had anywhere between one and five reductions. The list contains both condos and single family homes, the interesting part is of the 37 distressed properties on the market only four are on the Top 15 list.


The home with the largest reduction is 1213 Saint Charles that saw the price $289,000 for almost a 21% reduction. This is a great looking home in the Gold Coast, but the seven figure price tag leaves it a tough buy for most.


My favorite is listed for $599,000, a 17% discount is 2837 Madison. It has four bedrooms and two and half baths, bay windows and wainscotting. A very nice home and a more moderate price.


If you are looking for a great starter place the condo at 1170 9th Street at $199,000 may be a good place to look for a deal. It is only one of two units offered at under $200,000. It is a one bedroom place, but if you like water it has a pool and is on the lagoon.


If you are looking for a single family residence there are a few to select from under $500,000. there are 20 single family residence with at least two bedrooms between $299,950 and $499,999. If you need more than two bedrooms the selection gets slim two three bedroom, two four bedroom and one five bedroom homes in this range.


Top 15 Bargains

List Date	Original List	New List Price	%	Number of Reductions	Address
21-Apr-10	$1,389,000	$1,100,000	79.19%	2	1213 SAINT CHARLES ST
12-Jul-10	$725,000	$599,000	82.62%	2	2837 MADISON ST
04-May-10	$300,000	$249,000	83.00%	2	965 SHOREPOINT CT #203
14-Jun-10	$599,900	$499,900	83.33%	2	2149 LINCOLN AVE
20-Jan-10	$239,000	$199,900	83.64%	5	1170 9TH ST #13
22-Jan-10	$285,000	$240,000	84.21%	3	2209 OTIS DR #R
19-Nov-09	$1,385,000	$1,195,000	86.28%	2	1000 GRAND ST
21-Jun-10	$1,390,000	$1,200,000	86.33%	2	1831 SAN JOSE AVENUE
07-Jul-10	$478,900	$418,900	87.47%	2	3201 OTIS DR
11-Jun-10	$965,000	$849,000	87.98%	2	1525 GIBBONS DRIVE
18-May-10	$859,000	$760,000	88.47%	5	64 STEUBEN BAY
07-Jul-10	$789,000	$699,000	88.59%	2	3125 BAYO VISTA AVE
16-Jul-10	$544,000	$484,000	88.97%	1	108 PARFAIT LN
30-Jul-10	$650,000	$579,000	89.08%	1	1529 MOZART STREET
08-Mar-10	$379,950	$339,950	89.47%	3	2101 SHORELINE DR #262

Looking for a Home Bargin: Watch Price Reductions

On way for home sellers to generate renewed interest in a home that has been on the real estate market for a while is to lower price. Dropping the price strategy works well in retail when you walk the isles of your grocery store or shopping for that must have 60” LCD television, but how good a strategy is it for selling homes.

In the Alameda housing market, homes that institute at least one price reduction is roughly 37 percent since the beginning of the year. That equates to nearly 50-60 homes in today’s market.

Locally we have a wide range of price reductions: The million dollar property, 7 Castlebar Place, has used three price reductions already in an attempt to get the property sold with a list price of $1,899,000 in July is now $1,699,000 a $200,000 reduction. 1221 Sherman saw a $900,000 reduction from $2,488,905 to $1,569,000.

In the more moderate price homes 447 Lincoln, a short sale, has used two price reductions starting at $410,000 and is now $389,000.

If you are looking to buy a home this is a good number to track. The number tells consumers if homes are being priced correctly. A good real estate sales person will try to hit the sweet spot for pricing to maximize the dollars you get for your home and time on market.

In the most recent report from online real estate brokerage ZipRealty the show nationally that list prices for homes are on the rise and there is a decline in price reduction. According to ZipRealty, this data may indicate that the worst is over for national housing market.

According to the Price Reduction report compiled from local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data in the 27 markets tracked, include:

• The market Median Price Reduction in the San Francisco Bay Area for August was $51,900.
• More than 42 percent of home listings in 27 major markets tracked included at least one price reduction in August 2009 – twelve thousand fewer home listings with discounted prices in those markets compared to July.
• Nationally, Home owners slashed listing prices by an average of $24,494 in August, a decline of 2.01 percent compared to the month prior.
• In August, homeowners within all markets studied reduced list prices on average by 9.59 percent (a 1.67 point decline compared to July)
• Markets with the lowest percentage of price-reduced homes are Denver (31 percent), Los Angeles (35 percent) and San Francisco (37 percent)
  
  For access to all of the data and the full report, click here: http://ziprealty.typepad.com/blog/2009/09/ziprealty-price-reductions-by-metro-august-2009.html
  

September 14 Alameda Inventory Data

. . 9/14/2009 . Total 144 . 94501 114 . 94502 30 . SFR 94 . Condo 30 . Multi-Family 18 . Short Sale 15 . Foreclosure 9 . Price Reductions 50 . High List $1,899,000 . Low List $204,900 .

What a Bargain

So what do you consider a bargain? For many of we look for the big sign in the story that tells us that the product is 10%, 20%, 30% or more off the original price. In Real Estate customers watch for price reductions.

The difference between the consumer product and a home is a little harder to figure out. A product usually has an acceptable retail range that it is sold for in the story. In tough times, retail does resort to huge discounts, Christmas 2008. The housing market is extremely fluid and a home has so many factors that go into pricing a home that have nothing to do with the actual structure. The philosophy of discounting just does not work.

I think the hardest part is that many of can not tell the difference between a house and a home. A house is sold on the market; a home is where you live. Even in the best market people have a tough time selling their home because they almost always think that it is worth more than the market will allow.

The National Association of Realtors has seven tips for sellers (click on link for details):

1. Consider comparables
2. Consider competition
3. Consider your contingencies
4. Get an appraisal
5. Ask a lender
6. Be accurate
7. Know what you’ll take

The most important, in my opinion, is number six; BE ACCURATE!  Studies show that homes priced more than 3 percent over the correct price take longer to sell. Then when you start reducing the price you begin chasing the market.

So what does this have to do with the Alameda Housing Market?

As I track the weekly inventory the price reduction number has been jumping out at me, because inventory changes daily, I took a look at all 54 reductions in the market. Price reductions represent 37% of the inventory and more than anything I was curious to see if this strategy is working.

What I found was that most of the homes in town have only used one price reduction. A third of the properties listed have had two or more price reductions. I do not track homes that are re-listed so the numbers may be a little skewed. One home has had five reductions and is now the lowest priced listing in Alameda; 965 Shorepoint Ct, #211.

Seven homes have given up more than a $100,000 from their original list price. Here are the Top 5: 613 Haight , $256,000; 568 Central, $225,450; 609 Haight $198,000; 1417 Page, $185,000; 361 Ansel, $150,000; 1530 Grand, $105,000; 1534 Buena Vista, $100,000.

So for those thinking of selling the current information should be a warning signal that they should really focus on pricing their house to meet the market. For Buyers this should give you some guidence in how much to pay for home.

Link to Larger Version of Chart

Christmas Sale: Alameda Real Estate

The Alameda Residential Real Estate market currently has 30 homes (single family residence) that have implemented a price reduction in hopes getting that house sold during the holiday season. Discounts from the original list price range from 2 to 33%. So as you look at all those retail holiday bargains take a look at what Alameda Real Estate has to offer. Here are the top three:

609 Haight -- This two bedroom and one bathroom, 1,473 square foot home has been on the market for 308 Days. the orginal list price was$595,000 and now is discounted 33.28%.

Current Sale Price: $397,000

417 Page -- This three bedroom and two bathroom, 1,954 square foot home has been on the market for 355 Days. the original list price was$835,000 and now is discounted 22.16%.

Current Sale Price: $650,000

409 Shellgate -- This is a short sale. A three bedroom and two bathroom, 1,504 square foot home has been on the market for 76 Days. the original list price was$599,000 and now is discounted 16.69%.

Current Sale Price: $499,000

The full list: