In June 2009 leading economists declared the end to the recession which began in December 2007.  Some may choose to argue that we are still in a recession and others may argue that it is not a good time to buy real estate.  How does that news equate to what is happening in the real estate market in Coronado?  Interestingly in 2009 only one home sold in Coronado with a sales price of over 4 million dollars.  The home is located at 561 Marina Avenue in Coronado and was listed on November 9, 2007 for $6,489,000.  This Coronado ocean view home was on the market for 92 days.  The owner relisted the property on April 11, 2008 with a different agent, who by the way discounted the commission to the buyer’s agent and wanted to conduct all of the negotiations themselves. In other words, hired an agent to place their multimillion dollar Coronado home in the MLS only.  The property remained on the market for 388 days and sold for $4,100,000.  In the end, the seller had discounted his property 36.8%.  How did that discounted commission work out for him?

Interestingly, seven (7) homes to date (1/1/2010 – 9/23/2010) have sold in Coronado for over 4 million dollars.  Actually, it is 8 homes but a buyer had requested for the sales information not to be made public, so the information does not appear in the MLS.  These higher end homes had minimum days on the market (DOM) of 90, an average of 228 DOM and a maximum of 493 DOM according to the current data.  According to the information provided in the Comparative Market Analysis these homes had an average markdown rate of 19.5%.  However, if you dig a little deeper and determine what the true list price of these Coronado homes were from previous listings that were wither canceled or expired, you will discover that the average markdown rate is 30.%.

1112 Isabella Avenue in Coronado was listed for sale three times by two different agents.  This home was originally listed for $8.2 million and sat on the market for 172 days.  Then the home was relisted by the same agent for $7.7 million and remained on the market for an additional 125 days.  The second agent takes the listing for $6,798,000 and was on the market for 311 days.  When all was said and done, this Coronado home sold for $4,675,000. That is a 42.98% markdown rate from the original list price. And then the buyer leveled this 1918 home that the listing agent stated “exudes Old World Elegance and Charm.”  

1121 Isabella Avenue in Coronado is my personal favorite because I represented the buyers in this purchase.  This home was originally listed for $6,795,000 and was on the market for 309 days before it sold for $5,025,000.  What makes this Coronado home an interesting case study is the fact that the sellers purchased this home in April 2005, the height of the real estate market, and paid $5,250,000. This Coronado home sold for a 26% markdown. 

1063 Ocean Blvd. in Coronado was also listed three different times, but by the same agent for a total of 601 days on the market.  It was originally listed for $14,800,000 and sold for $10,500,000.  That ocean front property had a markdown rate of 29%.

In the past 30 days, 1536 Glorietta Blvd in Coronado sold.  If you look at the data you will see that the home was listed for $5.5 million and sold for $4.4 million in 159 days.  This Coronado home had a markdown rate of 20%.  However, the actual number of days on market for this Coronado property was 575 days with an original list price of $6.8 million.  With that information, it changes the picture.  Not only did the seller endure an enormous amount of time on the market, but he ended up discounting his home 35.29%, an additional 15.29% from what was indicated in the 30 day Comparative Market Analysis.

307 1^st Street in Coronado had not been listed for sale since 2006.  At that time, this Coronado home was listed for $7 million and was on the market for 126 days before the listing was canceled.  The home was relisted in 2010 for $4.9 million and sold in 158 days for $4.2 million, only a 14% markdown. Amazing what happens when the seller gets realistic.

1 Spinnaker Way in the Coronado Cays is an amazing statistic. This Coronado Cays home originally listed for $8,695,000 and was only on the market for 90 when it sold for $5,700,000.   This private waterfront estate sold for a 34.44% markdown price.

527 Ocean Blvd in Coronado was new construction, by one of Coronado’s premier builders.  This ocean front home had been listed for sale twice by two different agents.  It was originally listed for sale at a value range of $9.5 million to $12.5 million and had 668 days on the market.  This home was relisted by a second agent, priced $8.95 to $12.5 million and was on the market for 230 days before it sold for $8,950,000.  However, the sales price is not as clear cut as it appears.  When I reviewed the tax records, the recorded sales price was $5,950,000.  Upon further investigation, I discovered that the seller’s took another Coronado home in trade for an effective value of $3 million. When looking at all of the historical data, this home actually had a 28.4 % markdown rate.

The bottom line is that although the recession has ended, and multimillion dollar home sales in Coronado has improved 8:1 since a year ago, seller’s still need to be realistic in their pricing.