For today’s Question of the Week I took a bit of a departure.  It’s more of a “did you know” than an actual question, but one that I think you might find interesting.  How, you ask, can you even compare Carmel Valley to Seaside?  They are such different areas, you say.  Well, you’re right, they are different areas, but not as different as, say, Carmel Valley and Bartlesville, Oklahoma, or Seaside and Arlington, VA.  In the grand scheme of things, Carmel Valley and Seaside have more in common than they have differences.  That’s why I think it is interesting to note the drastically different market dynamics we’re observing in these two areas of Monterey County.

In Seaside, there are currently 39 properties available, 70 (yeah, that’s right, 70) pending sale, and 27 I have sold in the last 30 days. By contrast, in Carmel Valley, there are currently 126 properties available, 18 are pending sale, and 5 have sold in the last 30 days.  So, why the stark difference?  Well, Seaside will always tend to have more turnover of inventory as residents are typically ones moving in and out of the area due to jobs, military relocations, etc. whereas many Carmel Valley homes are purchased as second homes or retirement homes.  But this can’t really be the source for the discrepancy, can it?  Probably not.  My theory is that values have drastically fallen in both areas, but Seaside sellers (mostly banks and underwater homeowners) have been forced to meet the market, and Carmel Valley sellers have not.  Carmel Valley sellers tend to be in situations where they can make attempts to wait things out for a while, sticking to their lofty list prices in hopes of a recovery.  Sellers facing foreclosure don’t have that luxury.

The bottom line is that today’s buyers see value in Seaside prices, and don’t yet see the same kind of value in Carmel Valley prices.  Time will tell if Carmel Valley values rebound to approach sellers’ asking prices or if these sellers will have to make some drastic price adjustments to eventually sell their properties.