My Favorite House in Davis
June 27th, 2008 Categories: Davis CA Real Estate, Davis RE Trends, Photo Tours, RE Week in Review, Real Estate News, Selling
Parkside Drive is one block from UCD - a small U-shaped street with about 45 homes in the center of town that is sometimes referred to as part of ”old professor row” - a quality of neighborhood we don’t have enough of. Unpretentious and nostalgically heartwarming, each home has a different design and character and is somewhere in the continuum between “original state” and “gorgeously remodeled”.
At the later end of that contiuum is 40 Parkside. This home was torn down to just one wall and rebuilt on the original footprint about 7 years ago by Steve Sherman. It is calm, restful home for those of us whose children have flown the coop. The house is small but open, spacious and perfectly elegant for having friends for dinner inside or out. Every detail is crafted with taste and thought. The wide plank hickory floors were distressed by hand on site. The dining room has the perfect dimensions to embody space and coziness. Best of all is the cottage! In the large back yard there is a 600+ sq ft cottage that has a fireplace, living room, kitchen with old wedgewood stove, bedroom and bath, and a large southfacing wall of windows. When we originally went to see the house, my husband and I had a rare fight about who would get to have the cottage.
This house has been “curated” by Susanne and Simon Dryer these past few years - they have enhanced the garden, colors, and the feel of the house even warmer. It is now on the market. If the time in our lives were right, we would be moving to Parkside where I would not only relish this home, but also would be thrilled to be part of the eclectic neighborhood. Alas, not the right time for us. Some lucky person will have the rare opportunity to live in graceful elegance in the center of our sweet town…
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Davis Homes Sell: June Surge
June 25th, 2008 Categories: Davis CA Real Estate, Davis RE Trends, RE Week in Review, Real Estate News
Remember that spike in escrows we talked about in April? It is now showing up as closed sales - the charts are shooting up - and we are poised to have our best month in 22 months! Consider what Davis sales look like for 2008:
First 18 weeks of 2008
Number of homes sold: 79
Revenue from homes sold: $86m
Last 8 weeks of 2008 (May/June)
Number of homes sold: 101
Revenue from homes sold: $105m
Number of pendings: 80
We are having 10 - 15 new listings come on the market each week now, so the inventory is being replaced. Prices are somewhat lower than 2007 and there have been a few amazing bargains (a nice home at 3221 Lillard just went into escrow - 1601 sq ft/ 3/2 home on large lot in great shape listed at a whopping $425,000).
Call me - Jamie Madison - at 530.574.0596 if you would like to learn more.
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Peaks and Valleys : Davis Real Estate June 2008
June 10th, 2008 Categories: Davis CA Real Estate, Davis RE Trends, RE Week in Review, Real Estate News
The spring market happened in one sharp spike late April/early May and then flatlined again with a mere 2 month supply of homes on the market, leaving all of us to wonder where the rest of the year will go.
Year to Date
142 Sold
86 Pending
166 Available
7 Short Sale
0 Foreclosures
Month of May 2007 vs May 2008
# SOLD 65 45 -11%
Days/Market 55 47
Price sq ft 333.5 319.4
Avg Price 558,881 486,676 -13%
% list/sale 99.06% 98.1%
Four Year Glance (to May 31)
2005 2006 2007 2008
# sides 518 372 444 254
Avg price 579k 589k 558k 526k
Days/market 9 48 68 68
$ volume 300.3m 219m 248m 133m
Move to Davis from New York or Los Gatos and you will be in the drivers seat IF you find a house you love. Move from eastern Idaho or Indiana and you better brace yourself to come to terms with the half-million, charm-free older home in Davis. (Davis DOES have its compensations, however!) Who is buying and selling? Here are profiles of a few of my clients:
1. Empty nesters trade their central Davis Streng for a new Centex home in Woodland.
2. Executive moving from the East Coast could not find the right family home, but they found a large home to rent for a year while they look.
3. Family selling a 3 bedroom West Davis halfplex as they depart for new jobs in the East.
4. New faculty member buys her first condo!
5. Family moving from Napa to Davis for the schools find a gorgeous large home.
6. Family moving from Ruby Ranch (Pleasanton) to find a less materialistic way of life and good schools find a gorgeous large home after a one year search.
7. Retired couple relocating from Grass Valley to find a more interesting life continue to search for an interesting and affordable home.
8. Young family decides to stay in Davis instead of returning to NY - find a pleasant small home to fix up in South Davis.
9. Woman who grew up in Davis returns from Marin County with her family and finds a nice home in Village Homes after a several month search.
The market is slower but I continue to help individuals, couples and families continue to make happy home transitions here in Davis. - Jamie Madison
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Putah Creek Party - Celebrating 20 Years
June 3rd, 2008 Categories: Amusement, Davis Fun to Do, Davis Nature, Real Estate News
If you are new to Davis you may not know that it took a tremendous collaboration of lawmakers, attorneys, landowners, farmers, ecologists and citizens who cared to save one of the only natural riparian woodlands in Northern California - Putah Creek.
At least 100 people gathered at my house along the creek this weekend to celebrate and remember the past 20 years of the Putah Creek Council and the victory to adjudicate Federal law and keep water in the creek year round. The day was gorgeous, the wonderful local band Hardwater played, there was meat on the barbie, and wine poured freely. Energetic young members and revered old timers gathered to talk and remember. Most notably Steve Chainey, the founder of Putah Creek Council, shared his understanding that though not yet pristine, Putah Creek is so much cleaner than it was twenty years ago. The eco system is more complex and vibrant, with salmon spawning, mink, otters and more. We were inspired to consider what a difference citizens can make, and we all wondered where it was we got all that energy (and time) to see it through.
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Invitation to See a Few Good Homes in America’s #3 Friendliest Place to Live
May 30th, 2008 Categories: Davis CA Real Estate, Davis Fun to Do, Davis Schools, Davis Schools Foundation, RE Week in Review, Real Estate News
Sunday June 8, 1-4 pm, Start at 764 Elmwood Drive…
My amazingly energetic client and friend Joy Klineberg had a great idea - a walking home tour of a few homes on some of our favorite Davis streets. The people of Davis have given hugely this spring to the Davis Schools Foundation and we made national news for saving 20 teacher’s jobs, so it feels like an unwelcome tug to ask once again. However, some of the important smaller organizations are struggling for funding that has been redirected to the Schools Foundation. Joy is raising money to help the coffers of the Davis School Arts Foundation , and Ciana Wallace and I are sponsoring her. Hope you can come out for a funky Davis-style tour! Call (530.574.0596) or email (jamiebmadison@msn.com) if you have questions.
In case you missed it, the Today Show had a segment this week on the 5 Friendliest places in the US to live….yup, Davis came in number 3!
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Do You Know Why? 2007 vs 2008 in Regional Cities
May 27th, 2008 Categories: Davis CA Real Estate, Davis RE Trends, RE Week in Review, Real Estate News
Following are notes on the performance of two groups of cities for March 27 - May 27th in 2007 and 2008. These cities are all within a 50 mile radius. Can you guess why the vivid differences in the two groups?
Group 1 / # of homes sold 2007 2008
North Highlands 33 97 +194%
Elk Grove 259 570 + 97%
Rancho Cordova 70 138 +97%
West Sacramento 47 88 +87%
Natomas 213 372 +75%
Woodland 72 91 +26%
Group 2 / # of homes sold 2007 2008
Davis 98 64 -35%
Folsom 171 132 -23%
Auburn 81 66 -19%
Granite Bay 43 36 -16%
East Sacramento 179 180 —-
Yes, of course you have it. The cities who have increased in the number of homes sold are those who had the most bank-owned properties. Investors have recognized a good thing and swooped in to take advantage of homes whose prices have dropped well below the cost it would take to build them… -Jamie Madison
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