If you’ve been thinking like we have, you're probably wondering when will the weather get a little warmer. The wind has been relentless this month. Our Davis weather station located at our home in the Hallmark area of Belmont, has been collecting data since we moved from Barclay Way in 2001. We’ve been broadcasting it live since January 2002 and it receives more hits than any of our other web pages each month. A recent software upgrade has allowed us to extract data for analysis and this is my first graph. It illustrates the wind at time intervals for the Month of May, 2008—to date. Notice that there hasn’t been one day so far this month that there hasn’t been any wind between the hours of 12:45 PM to 11:00 PM! The positive ions wind can create may actually have a negative affect o... 05/08/2008

Is crosswalk etiquette dead or did it ever exist? View Larger Map This is our city, Belmont California; and this is our office, Carlmont Associates. Here we are smack dab in the middle of Belmont on the corner of Ralston Ave. and Villa--obviously a big enough intersection to get Google's attention. The cross walk you see here is the topic of today's rant. You see the city installed an illuminated cross walk—you know the ones with the flashing yellow lights imbedded into the street—to assist pedestrians in crossing the road. Well not really to help them get across, but to help them get there more safely by making them easier for drivers to notice. Clearly in order to get to my office I play the role of both a driver and pedestrian. First, in defense of the drivers, it's really hard to se... 05/04/2008

 Belmont would like to get the word out about the Spring "Green" faire. This is from their promotional material on Craig's list. "Mark your calendars for Belmont's Spring Garden Faire, Saturday, May 17th at Twin Pines Park, adjacent to Ralston and 6th Avenues in Belmont from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. This fun and information-packed day will prepare you for Spring! Hear environmentally savvy suggestions for your home and business. Be inspired by ideas from local exhibitors and industry experts that will make your Spring gardening and landscaping a success! Come and browse, then take a shuttle ride to the winners of the Beautify Belmont Awards Program along with other notable home and business landscape designs. Vote for your favorite in the garden planter competition on-site. Activities for the ... 05/02/2008

Join us in The Twin Pines park Saturday, May 17th and help us go Green! Carlmont Associates is proud to be a part of this important opportunity to learn about ways to help our environment and create a sustainable furture.From Belmont's Homepage:Date(s):5/17/2008Times:10am - 3pmContact:Parks & RecreationTelephone:650-595-7441Location:Twin Pines ParkWebsite:www.belmont.gov Come to a fun, family friendly event for everyone! Get giveaways and info about getting into spring in your garden and in general 'going greener'. We all want to make a difference and here are some ways you can! WE have ideas, vendors, expert demonstrations (like solar cooking), garden experts, silent auction for community made planter boxes and much more! 05/01/2008

                                                                                                                                            Lots of large homes are on the market in Belmont while the inventory of homes for sale is  reaching a high not seen since 2003. Just 22 of the 52 homes for sale are listed under $1,000,000; while the median home currently for sale is just over 2,000 square feet, the median home in Belmont is only 1550 square feet.And Inventory levels have hit near all time highs. There are currently 52 single family homes on the market and only twice in the last ten years has there ever been more-both times the U.S. was in a business cycle trough-the 2001 recession and again in 2003 during a mid cycle slowdown. We expect inventory level to grow even more in May and ... 04/21/2008

Could Belmont Have Hit Bottom and Now Be Rising? 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.  You'd never know it looking at how prices have risen and inventory has climbed since the first of the year.  Here's what's te... 04/15/2008

Belmont Housing Market Update-March 2008 (edit/delete) BELMONT'S MEDIAN HOME VALUE IN MARCHBelmont's median price rose $13,000 in March of 2008 to $984,500 from $971,500 in March 2007-a 1.3% increase. As always, we further examine the median size home to see if larger or smaller homes selling during the sample period could influence the numbers. Since the median size home for both periods was essentially the same, no adjustment was made this month. SALES CONTINUE TO BE DOWNOnly 14 homes closed escrow in March as compared to 28 for the same period last year-clearly underscoring the unease in the housing market and the economy as a whole. STRIKING A BALANCEThe existing inventory of homes for sale is lower than usual for this time of year which helps bring equilibrium to the supply vs. dem... 04/06/2008

BELMONT'S MEDIAN HOME VALUE IN MARCHBelmont's median price rose $13,000 in March of 2008 to $984,500 from $971,500 in March 2007-a 1.3% increase. As always, we further examine the median size home to see if larger or smaller homes selling during the sample period could influence the numbers. Since the median size home for both periods was essentially the same, no adjustment was made this month. SALES CONTINUE TO BE DOWNOnly 14 homes closed escrow in March as compared to 28 for the same period last year-clearly underscoring the unease in the housing market and the economy as a whole. STRIKING A BALANCEThe existing inventory of homes for sale is lower than usual for this time of year which helps bring equilibrium to the supply vs. demand impact on housing prices. Factors which are not as ... 04/03/2008

Belmont It's interesting to note that in the last two years, for the first six months virtually the same number of homes sold-94 in 2006 and 92 in 2007. After the July news of the mortgage industry financial issues, the overall uncertainty of the market, and undoubtedly with anticipation that homes values may drop, 2007 saw only 127 sales as compared to 167 in 2006 for the second half of the year.  Can one believe the reported median price for Belmont? The MLS system reported the aggregate Belmont real estate median home price in 2006 to be $925,000. That rose to $945,000 in 2007 or a little over 4%. Further analysis reveals that the median size home which sold in 2007 was 95 square feet larger. Understanding the median home sold in Belmont during 2007 sold for $548 per square foot and ... 01/31/2008

  ↑Belmont ended the year with 17 sales in December as compared to 14 in 2006 and off the high of 25 in 2005. That's a glimpse the market may not be getting much worse. ↑Of those 17 sales, eight sold over the seller's asking price, two sold at asking and seven homes sold under asking. We indicate this to be positive since it underscores the market is still healthy in certain segments.The average time it took to sell a home was 39 days. Of the homes which sold over asking they took only 18 days to sell and on average sold for 3.61% over what the seller was asking. Seller's which received their asking price took on average 40 days to sell their home and homes which sold under the asking price averaged 56 days on the market and sold for 5.26% less than their original asking price. Clearly,... 01/10/2008

Days on Market and Price Received CorrelationThough the nation's mortgage industry is tumultuous at best, the peninsula market in the Bay Area is faring much better. Last month 17 homes sold as compared to 14 in 2006 and off the high of 25 in 2005. That's a glimpse the market may not be getting too much worse. Of those 17 sales eight sold over the seller's asking price, two sold at asking and seven homes sold under asking.                                                                                     The average time it took to sell a home was 39 days. Of the homes which sold over asking however, they took only 18 days to sell and on average sold for 3.61% over what the seller was asking. Seller's which received their asking price took on average 40 days to sell, and homes which so... 01/10/2008

I have reviewed the November MLS statistics for Single Family Homes in Belmont, California. Please listen to my podcast to learn about the key trends and indicators in this area. If you have any questions about the market, feel free to give me a call at 408-829-4141 or e-mail JohnPinto@jvpinto.com Thank you, John V. Pinto 12/14/2007

I have reviewed the November MLS statistics for Condominiums & Townhomes in Belmont, California. Please listen to my podcast to learn about the key trends and indicators in this area. If you have any questions about the market, feel free to give me a call at 408-829-4141 or e-mail JohnPinto@jvpinto.com Thank you, John V. Pinto 12/14/2007

Drew & Christine Morgan,MorganHomes.com Drew and Christine Morgan 650.508.1441 "Helping People Make Good Decisions"sm MorganHomes.com November's Market Reports-Our custom graphs   Find Your Perfect Home Search for an Open House Get E-mail Home Alerts What's Your Home Worth? Moving Soon? How's Belmont's Weather? Want to Compare Schools? Belmont's Blog Real Estate Blog About Us                 Our Rebates Our Fees Buyers: Buying a home should be fun and exciting yet the uncertainty of the process and the magnitude of the investment can be daunting. That's where we help. Few if any agents are as diligent in helping you understand the entire home buying process. Finding a home you like is the easy part--getting the home you want can be a challenge. From getting a loan, to negotiations, ins... 12/11/2007

November’s numbers are in and there are no real surprises. Last month’s momentary increase in the median price in several cities like Belmont and Redwood City (as previously discussed) was due to an inordinate number of larger homes selling in October. This month, the opposite was true as the median size home sold was smaller than the median home in Belmont so it gives the appearance that the median home value dropped. As seen in this graph, the price per square foot that the average Belmont home sold for was up—again due to smaller size homes selling (smaller homes sell for more per square foot than larger ones). Several key market indicators you might want to watch… ↑The number homes sold in Belmont was up from last month and closer to the typical winter selling pattern, though still ... 12/11/2007

Another affirmation of Belmont’s commitment to academic excellence was demonstrated as Central Elementary school was recognized as a “Blue Ribbon” school--part of the national “No Child Left Behind” program for achieving academic excellence. Belmont’s Central Elementary School was selected out of a possible 120,000 public and private schools nationwide—one of 24 which earned this honor in the state of California. Belmont’s commitment to the finest education is one of the many reasons so many people choose Belmont as their home. The criteria for such a distinction is: “The NCLB-Blue Ribbon Schools Program is a 24-year-old program that encourages states to nominate public kindergarten through grade twelve schools that are either academically superior or demonstrate dramatic gains in stude... 12/04/2007

Good news for families who have children with special needs in the Belmont Redwood Shores School District.  We have formed a PTA for the school district to benefit the Special Needs Department.  We meet on the first Wendesday of each month at the Belmont / Redwood Shores School District Office 2960 Hallmark Drive, Belmont. Mission: Our mission is to serve special needs children and their families through education,training and support, in collaboration with school district staff and other PTA organizations. Goals:• Provide parent education and teacher training with guest speakers• Create a parent and teacher network to share resources and experiences• Work with teachers and special families to help special needs children successfully participatein all aspects of education• Hold social e... 11/23/2007

While the media is quick to jump on any story which appears sensational, one wonders why the sharp increase in Belmont's median price of over 19% last month wouldn't have raised any eyebrows.Don't miss this month's article explaining how this data needs to be interpreted.We publish these graphs each month in order to keep Belmont homeowners apprised of the market. Of course you are always welcome to visit our web site MorganHomes.com for more detailed graphs and of course our blog for insightful analysis.And if you are a Belmont resident, help us go green and sign-up for monthly reports. We'll take you off of our snal mail list and dobate a dollar to school force!(Click on the picture for a full zized view) 11/15/2007

This is the continuation of an article on understanding median home values... This graph illustrates what the median size home sold for in Belmont during the preceding 12 month period. Note this does not take into consideration individual characteristics of the home such as updating or level yards which greatly affect the home's value. Applying a trend line to the same graph shows us that the median price is approximately representative of current market conditions-prices are not rising at the same rate as they were a year ago and may in fact be on a decline. Looking at all of San Mateo County, a much larger market sample, the median price is clearly rising despite fewer sales. While data supporting the theory that larger homes are selling is unavailable for this period, which likely is... 11/15/2007

Continued from Part I.Data from the country tax records indicate that the median home is a three bedroom, two bath 1820 square foot home on a 6,600 square foot lot. If the median size of sold homes during a given period were greater than that it would account for the median price also being more. Quickly surveying the sales from September to October (closed homes) we indeed see that more large home sold in October-6 0% of the homes sold were over 1820 square feet as opposed to only 46% in September. Since there was a shift in the median size home sold (up 14%), it stands to reason that the median home price would reflect that change-as it did. Yet applying the median price per square foot for the homes which sold, to the true median size home in Belmont (1820 Sq. Ft.), we return the fol... 11/15/2007