San Mateo-Foster City Real Estate News

Foster City was developed as a planned community.  What that means is the city was planned to have areas with apartments, condos, townhouses and single family homes.  Foster City's condos were all built to be condos and none of them have been converted apartment buildings.  The largest neighborhood with condos is Marina Point.  There is one large complex called Marina Point,  a second complex called Sand Harbor and its sister complex, Sand Harbor South. These condos have good square footage, all have inside laundry rooms, and some even have views of the water, although they're not sitting at the water's edge.  All feature fireplaces and nice ammenities with each complex.

For Sale this week:

• $329,888 - on the market for 203 days - 1 bedroom and 1 bath - 825 square feet and 35 years old.  Price reduced from $393,000.  This is a Short Sale.
• $499,000 - on the market for 21 days - 2 bedrooms and 2 baths - 1087 square feet and 35 years old.  Price reduced from $545,000.  This is a Short Sale.
• $499,000 - on the market for 42 days - 2 bedrooms and 2 baths - 1032 square feet and 36 years old.  Price reduced rom $549,000.  This is a Short Sale.
• $519,000 - on the market for 18 days - 2 bedrooms and 2 baths - 1032 square feet and 36 years old. Price reduced from $549,000
• $525,000 - on the market for 38 days - 3 bedrooms and 2 baths - 1460 square feet and 35 years old.  This is a Short Sale.
• $529,000 - on the market for 63 days - 2 bedrooms and 2 baths - 994 square feet and 36 years old.  Price reduced from $578,000.
• $529,000 -on the market for 290 days - 2 bedrooms and 2 baths - 1060 square feet and 35 years old.  Price reduced from $539,000.
• $545,000 - on the market for 85 days - 2 bedrooms and 2 bathsw - 1349 square feet and 35 years old
• $550,000 - on the market for 170 days - 2 bedrooms and 2 baths - 1286 square feet and 35 years old.  Price reduced from $585,000.
• $565,950 - on the market for 153 days - 2 bedrooms and 2 baths - 1250 square feet and 35 years old . Price reduced from $579,950.
• $590,888 - on the market for 212 days - 2 bedrooms and 2 baths - 1286 square feet and 35 yeras old.

Sold This Week:

• $499,000 - on the market for 59 days - 2 bedrooms and 2 baths - 1349 square feet and 35 years old.  Price reduced from $538,888.  Sale Price $499,000.

Withdrawn this Month:

• $479,500 - on the market for 5 days - 2 bedrooms and 2 baths - 1015 square feet and 36 yeras old. 

There were no pending sales.  There were no expired listings or cancelled listings.

Why are there so many condos for sale in this one area?  Condos generally offer a buyer entry level home ownership.  Today, loans are getting much more difficult to get for entry level ownership for condos because FHA requirement are demanding a minimum of 3% cash, and sometimes more.  The requirements for lending for condos has become more complicated and when a condo is costing close to the same as a single family house, and doesn't require the same cash for puchase, people are likely to want that single family house and not have to deal with association fees every month.

I suspect reason why we're seeing so many Short Sales now is that these condos were likely purchased by first time buyers and they leveraged their way into ownership.  Loans were most probably very low for a short period of time and the interest rates have reset far above what the owner can afford today. 

This could be your lucky day if you are looking for an investment property. It is the opportunity to buy good square footage at a low price.