The highest priced property in Pebble Beach…

and the lowest priced property in North Salinas…

There couldn’t be a more drastic difference in markets as you look at these Monterey County properties.  As you’d expect, the number of REOs (bank-owned properties, ie. Real Estate Owned) and short sales (owner owes more than it’s worth) are very different from city to city within Monterey County.  We tend to be bombarded with local news that talks about the Monterey County averages, but that’s like averaging California real estate with Nevada real estate.  The markets can’t be more different.  I finally decided to run some numbers to illustrate the differences in the number of REOs and short sales we’re seeing in each of our local markets.  These numbers are as of March 23, 2009 and include single family residences and condos:

As you might expect, there is a dramatic difference between the higher priced areas (Carmel, Carmel Valley, Pebble Beach, Big Sur, Pacific Grove, Monterey and the Monterey-Salinas Highway corridor) and the lower priced areas (Seaside, Marina, and Salinas).  Keep this in mind next time you hear county-wide or national real estate statistics.