Tag Archives: San Francisco Bay Area

A suburban community in the San Francisco Bay area, Redwood City, California, lies in San Mateo County and has a population of more than 80,000. The community’s residents are fairly well-to-do, with a median annual household income of more than $70,000. The market for Redwood City real estate struggled initially when the recession hit the vast majority of towns in the U.S., but the beginning of 2010 has shown positive signs of improvement, especially in price, for the Redwood City market.

According to statistics from the San Mateo County Association of Realtors, in the first quarter of 2010 there were 216 new listings of Redwood City homes for sale in the first quarter of 2010, up slightly from 203 in the first quarter of 2009. Total inventory of single-family homes in the first quarter was 189 this year, down by just two from last year. Sales activity was up more than 25% in the first quarter this year, with 100 homes this year sold versus 73 last year. Homes spent an average of 74 days on the market in the first quarter this year, up from just 59 days last year’s first quarter. Most importantly, both the average and median prices have risen annually in the first quarter. The average price was almost $726,000, up more than $20,000, and the median price was $665,000, up by more than $100,000 from the same time last year.

The market for condos in Redwood City showed similar trends, mostly encouraging signs that the market is improving. In the first quarter of 2010, there were 22 new condos listed for sale, and inventory stood at 21, up from inventory in 2009 of just 12. Condo sales activity during the quarter actually fell compared with 2009, as there were only eight condos sold in Redwood City in the first quarter of this year, versus 14 last year.  The number of days condos are spending on the market has remained consistent, at 40 days now versus 39 days last year. However, both the median and average prices of condos sold in Redwood City have risen. The average price in the first quarter of 2010 was $467,250, up more than $60,000 from last year at the same time, while the median price was $482,500, up by more than $75,000 from the same period a year earlier.