I get the question, “Why hasn’t Burlingame dropped in price the way other areas have?”, quite often. What is going on in our area, the area I fondly call Fantasy Island, that seems to insulate prices? It’s back to the basic economics of supply and demand. There is more demand for Burlingame than there is supply
of housing. Sure, there are more houses for sale today than there were a year ago but prices have generally held strong. Why?
Let’s look at the statistics from May 2008 versus May 2007. Last year there were 35 new listings of homes in Burlingame for the Month of May. This year there were 55, that’s 20 more, yet prices weren’t appreciably less. Average sales prices were down year to year but not by a huge amount, only 11%. In 2007 most prices were just above asking. This year they’re almost at asking. Current inventory, the total number of houses on the market that includes all new listings for the month, was 41 last year and 67 last month, 25 more houses for sale this May yet prices remain pretty steady. Why?
| New Listings | Current Inventory | Closed Sales | Average DOM | Average CDOM | |
| May 2007 | 35 | 41 | 23 | 27 | 29 |
| May 2008 | 55 | 67 | 22 | 35 | 35 |
| Average Sales Price | Median Sales Price | % List Price Received | Total Sales Volume for Month | ||
| May 2007 | $1,575,630 | $1,475,000 | 102.95 | $36,230,500 | |
| May 2008 | $1,465,881 | $1,325,000 | 99.15 | $32,249,390 |
The appeal of Burlingame is stronger than the economy. Burlingame offers great schools, a charming downtown, an easy commute to San Francisco or the Silicon Valley and it’s a hop skip and jump over to SFO for traveling executives. Even in the tight financial world of today if an executive comes prepared to buy a home in Burlingame, and they have equity to leverage into the median priced home, they’re buying. But, are they immune to the capriciousness of the banks today? Certainly not! Many are finding it a challenge to get that loan and then get closed.
Altos Research has told us that Burlingame’s Market Index sits at 22 and it’s moved up from the bottom of the market, which was the beginning of this year, so don’t expect to see much change in prices even with more houses to choose from.
If you want Burlingame, you’ll pay the price to live in Burlingame. Same song, different lyrics for the rest of our area. Sorry…..
Want the full Altos Research report on Burlingame? Just ask. We’re happy to provide it.
