More than 2 years ago,
1144 Elm debuted as the Tree Section's first new-construction home in years priced below $2m.
That was November 2007, and MBC noticed. (See "First Newbie Under $2m.")
The listing ran about 5 months then, but the home rented out instead of sticking it out. The last list price was $1.879m.
Now…
More than 2 years ago,
1144 Elm debuted as the Tree Section's first new-construction home in years priced below $2m.
That was November 2007, and MBC noticed. (See "
First Newbie Under $2m.")
The listing ran about 5 months then, but the home rented out instead of sticking it out. The last list price was $1.879m.
Now Elm is back at
$1.599m, a little worn, perhaps, from being lived in, and certainly having seen its market value take a hit since early 2008. (True, this is not strictly a "newbie" anymore, but we liked playing off the old title.)
The home itself (5b/5ba, 3300 sq. ft.) is fairly standard, though as we said back in 2007:
[It] has character inside, with good living spaces downstairs, nice detail work in the kitchen and baths, even kids' bedrooms that don't seem too scrunched. It's bright, too, despite a northern orientation – apparently a good use of skylights.
The issue here is location – next to a commercial building and MBB. It takes a lot to swallow that. But as they say, price can fix a lot of things.
Back in Nov. 2007, MBC said of the vanguard role Elm was playing by starting below $2m:
Until recently... new stuff in the Trees always started over $2m. Certainly, since Spring this year, that's been the case. No new home has been priced at, or sold for, less than $2m.
Did you notice any hedging there?
There was actually one new-construction sale early in 2007 that was below $2m:
3405 Pacific, which is also back on the market now.
Pacific began much further back, in March 2006, at $2.149m, lingering nearly a year before closing for
$1.775m in March 2007. That was one of the first sub-$2m sales we had seen.
Pacific is back for slightly less than its March 2007 price:
$1.729m.
While sub-$2m sales of new homes were rare when 1144 Elm first came around, there were several last year, including:
- 3404 Pine (5br/5ba, 3250 sq. ft., $1.895m on May 21)
- 560 36th (4br/4ba, 3800 sq. ft., $1.555m on June 2)
- 2103 Elm (5br/4ba, 3100 sq. ft., $1.880m on June 2)
- 3109 Oak (4br/4ba, 3200 sq. ft., $1.660m on June 5)
- 2509 Palm (5br/5ba, 3200 sq. ft., $1.675m* on June 30)
- 3309 Poinsettia (5br/5ba, 3250 sq. ft., $1.900m on July 20)
(Notes from * and **: 2509 Palm's sale price is based in part on a property exchange; that property was previously an REO; also, 2504 Poinsettia was an REO.)Quite recently, we saw the closing of
660 33rd, much bigger than all the homes listed above (5br/5ba, 4750 sq. ft.) at a reported price of
$1.990m – just a nudge below that semi-magical $2m threshold, but actually a greater value by the square foot than the rest.
Meanwhile, 1144 Elm and 3405 Pacific are 2 newer homes with significant location challenges, probably set to define the lower end of newer-home resale prices.
Since we won't have a lot of new construction to track for a while, resales of this kind could be the next big category to watch.
Please see our blog disclaimer.
Listings presented above are supplied via the MLS and are brokered by a variety of agents and firms, not Dave Fratello or Edge Real Estate Agency, unless so stated with the listing. Images and links to properties above lead to a full MLS display of information, including home details, lot size, all photos, and listing broker and agent information and contact information.
Based on information from California Regional Multiple Listing Service, Inc. as of March 19th, 2024 at 5:10am PDT. This information is for your personal, non-commercial use and may not be used for any purpose other than to identify prospective properties you may be interested in purchasing. Display of MLS data is usually deemed reliable but is NOT guaranteed accurate by the MLS. Buyers are responsible for verifying the accuracy of all information and should investigate the data themselves or retain appropriate professionals. Information from sources other than the Listing Agent may have been included in the MLS data. Unless otherwise specified in writing, Broker/Agent has not and will not verify any information obtained from other sources. The Broker/Agent providing the information contained herein may or may not have been the Listing and/or Selling Agent.