Archive Want to find out about Carmel real estate? Monterey Peninsula real estate? What makes the area special? Here is a selection of articles and reports we've published in our local paper and on this website. Enjoy! And feel free to call us for the latest scoop.
--Paul & Mark (831) 624-1414

Market Woes Continue
Fourth Quarter 2007 Report

With all the negativity bombarding us from the media at present, we do not want to add to the feeling of malaise. So, we begin with a piece of what we hope is good advice: do NOT assume that national real estate news applies to us.

Condo Market Barometer
Hits All-Time Low
Third Quarter 2007 Report

The condo market sunk further into the mud in the third quarter. The number of listings on October 1 hit an all time high, 181, and the Market Barometer, the percentage of listings in escrow, hit an all-time low at 9%, only 16 escrows out of the 181 listings.

Bright Sun Penetrates the Gloom
Third Quarter 2007 Report

Chicken Little is running wild around the world of real estate, but contrary to his predictions the sky is not falling in our market. Our scene is not one of bright sunshine, for sure, but within the gloom there are some shining surprises

Market Slump Continues
Second Quarter 2007 Report

We reported at the end of 2006 that the market had closed the year with a thud. The ten year bull market in local real estate had finally run its course. It was a great run, and the fact it lasted 10 years is incredible in the true sense of that hackneyed word.

Local Condo Market
Still Shuffling

Second Quarter 2007 Report

Since our last condo report for Fourth Quarter of last year the market has continued to be in the doldrums.

Condo Markets
Remain in Doldrums
Fourth Quarter 2006 Report

The condo and single-family, detached home markets sometimes bear little resemblance to one another. We have seen periods where rising home prices have slowed the single-family home market while spurring the condo market as buyers turned to condos because of their greater affordability.

Market Ends Year With A Thud
Fourth Quarter 2006 Report

Dollar volume in the 4th quarter of 2006 fell 40% from the same quarter in 2005. In 2005 $519,318,000 changed hands in the quarter as opposed to $310,995,000 in 2006. There were 240 unit sales in the quarter, consistent with the weakness shown earlier in the year. In the previous three quarters unit sales were 235, 248 and 243 respectively.

Condo Market Falls
To Historic Lows
Third Quarter 2006 Report

There is no need for lengthy comment on the market for condominiums on the Monterey Peninsula. The market is awful and a look at the charts published with this report tells all you need to know.

Market in Major Slowdown
Third Quarter 2006 Report

The real estate market on the Monterey Peninsula suffered a major slow down in the third quarter. The ten-year bull market in real estate has definitely come to an end.

Condo Market Falls
On Hard Times
Second Quarter 2006 Report

Following a reasonably good first quarter, the local condo market tumbled in the second quarter. The drop off was quick and precipitous

Market Tumbles
Supply Outstrips Demand
Second Quarter 2006 Report

One does not have to look past the inventory numbers for residential real estate to understand the current market.

Condo Market Remains Healthy
First Quarter 2006 Report

We ended our last Condo Report with this sentence. “We expect that condos will get off to a reasonably good start in the first quarter of 2006.” And they did.

Market Slowdown Continues
First Quarter 2006 Report

The long running hot real estate market ran out of breath during the fourth quarter of last year and is still panting. The year-end numbers pointed to a struggling first quarter, but no one foresaw the rain. Who knows what the wet weather did to the market, but whatever it was, it wasn't good.

Another Solid Year
For Condo Sales
Fourth Quarter & Year End 2005 Report

Sellers of condominiums racked up another good year in 2005. Gross dollar volume was a record $158,327,000, up five percent over 2004. This record volume was achieved with fewer sales than last year. There were 232 sales during the year as opposed to 247 last year. Higher selling prices accounted for the increase in dollar volume.

Record Breaking Year Ends on Down Note

Fourth Quarter & Year End 2005 Report

The hot local real estate market has just completed a ten-year run with 2001 the only blemish on the relentless increases in prices and dollar volume.

Great Quarter for Condos

Third Quarter 2005 Report

The third quarter was another great performance by the condo market. Dollar volume for the quarter was terrific reaching forty-nine million six hundred twenty-three million dollars, up forty percent over last year. This forty percent gain was accomplished with only nine additional sales. Last year there were sixty-two transactions in the third quarter, this year seventy-one, a gain of fifteen percent.

Market Roars Again

2004 Condo Market
Smashes 2003 Record
Fourth Quarter 2004 Report

The annual dollar volume in 2004 reached $150,754,000, obliterating 2003's record breaking sales volume of $110,339,000. That was an increase in dollar volume of 36.7% in just one year. In 2003, the first year in history that condominium sales topped $100,000,000, the gain over 2002 was just 10.6%.

Strong Fourth Quarter
Closed Out Banner Year
Fourth Quarter 2004 Report

Dollar volume is the real estate story for 2004. The Peninsula real estate market obliterated previous dollar volume records registering a whopping $1.6 billion dollars in sales, an increase of $450 million dollars or 39% over last year.

Condo Market Achieves
Record Dollar Volume

Fourth Quarter 2003 Report

For the first time in history, the annual dollar sales volume for Monterey Peninsula condominiums topped one hundred million dollars. The market almost reached that total it last year with $99,735,000 in sales, but fell just short. In 2003 dollar volume increased 10.6% to reach $110,339,000.

The Beat Goes On -
Local Real Estate Market Unstoppable

Fourth Quarter 2003 Report

For the third time in the last four years, yearly dollar volume exceeded one billion dollars in the 10 Monterey Peninsula markets. The total for 2003 was $1,153,569,459, slightly above 2002 and just a shade under the record-breaking number of the year 2000.

Condo Market Sets New Highs
Dollar Volume Tops $99 Million
Fourth Quarter 2002 Report

The condominium market on the Monterey Peninsula had a record-breaking year in 2002. Dollar volume was just a shade under one hundred million dollars, well above the previous record of $83,993,000 set in the year 2000.

Another Billion Dollar Year
Fourth Quarter 2002 Report

For the second time in history the ten Monterey Peninsula markets registered over one billion dollars in sales of single-family residences during a calendar year.

Condo Market Down - Prices Mixed
Fourth Quarter 2001 Report

Although the dollar volume from condominium transactions declined by 18% in 2001 from 2000, median sales prices increased in seven of the nine Monterey Peninsula markets.

Billion Dollar Plus 2000 Real Estate Haul Drops to Seven Hundred Fifty One Million
Fourth Quarter 2001 Report

The big story in the Monterey Peninsula real estate market at the end of 2000 was that dollar volume exceeded one billion dollars for the first time. That was a huge number demonstrating the tremendous popularity and high cost of Peninsula real estate during that record-breaking year.

Condos Remain Scarce
Fourth Quarter 2000 Report
We concluded our third quarter report with these words: “...there are now opportunities to buy condos. There may be even some bargaining room in prices. Stay tuned.” More

Peninsula Real Estate Sales Top One Billion Dollars in 2000
Fourth Quarter 2000 Report
One billion, one hundred eighty-five million, four hundred fifty-five thousand dollars changed hands in the ten Monterey Peninsula real estate markets last year. That figure represents a 31.8% gain over the record setting 1999 volume of nine hundred million, forty-six thousand dollars. More

The Condo Market -- Houdiniesque
Fourth Quarter 1999 and Year End Report
Now you see them, now you don't. Over the past few years condominiums for sale on the Monterey Peninsula have been doing a disappearing act. We can remember the days when one of our toughest jobs was selling condos whose listings seemed to drag on forever. Sellers would become discouraged and impatient. At present, it isn't a matter of whether or not you can get a unit sold, but how do you get the best possible price for your seller? More

Rocketing Prices Are The 1999 Real Estate Story
Fourth Quarter 1999 and Year End Report
No one knows for sure when the Bohemian era ended in Carmel. We just know that no true Bohemian has been able to afford a place around here for years. It is unlikely that the impoverished poets and sages of our time could even afford a place in Seaside or Marina today, the last bastions of affordability on the Monterey Peninsula... More

The Value of Place
A two-part article about what makes the Carmel real estate market different from most others. Part one looks at the value that is added to a home just for being in this area. Part two looks at what the community can do to preserve this "Carmel Premium".

Sailing the Bay
Sailing and racing on Monterey Bay is one of the most stimulating and, at times, challenging outdoor sports that the Monterey Peninsula offers..." More