“Nothing is normal, but things still seem to be OK here in real estate.” That is the gist of what we tell people when asked what’s happening here in Carmel and Pebble Beach. Inflation fell below 5% for the first time, and Zillow’s market data aggregator thinks the overall market will appreciate a slim 1% over the next 12 months – that’s Carmel county versus the city of Carmel-by-the-Sea, where things tend to be more insular and benefit from greater appreciation that the greater area.

Our team has been selling at a relatively healthy pace this last few months, with 2 new listings signed in prime Carmel and Pebble Beach over the last roughly 2 weeks, 2 closings last month in prime Carmel, a new escrow, a new offer out this weekend, and a few other folks getting ready to list for Spring. More and more of the buyers on our spreadsheet are coming active again. That’s really not bad in a very low unit volume market like ours. People appear to be engaging more and more.

What’s happening on the ground? Well, inventory was the lowest in January and has been rising slowly each month. It’s still decidedly a seller’s market although we are seeing some properties with bigger discounts. These properties are typically not your prime products and often not in prime areas, however… And we are still seeing competitive, multiple offer situations on those prime properties / prime areas. Very nice product on the cusp of prime areas seem to be holding close to their asking numbers, as well. Finally, the lower end of prime is still very impacted by the debt on those properties around 3% and heavily incentivizing those would-be sellers, not to be sellers. This will be helpful in propping up values, even at higher price points, as we continue through this “cycle”.

As always, I hope this casual approach to the market is helpful in your understanding of it. Please reach out if you or your friends are thinking about making any moves this season. We would love to help.

Cheers,
Ryan