Carmel home sales and prices end 2011 on a high note as sales across the Peninsula were on the rise

Overall, 2011 brought us more home sales and slightly lower home prices according to a recent article in The Monterey Herald. (Monterey Herald, Lance Wallace, January 20, 2012).  In fact, prices, interest rates and inventory are all lower than they were a year ago, which has many people feeling a little more optimistic about the market.

Carmel experiences the sharpest increase in both sales and prices, which were up for the year. 

Sales jumped from 167 a year ago to 204 in 2011. The average sale price rose $30,000 to $1,356,000.and that's good news! Here are some of the other highlights of the article:

Sales increased in Carmel, Monterey, Pacific Grove and Pebble Beach, the Multiple Listing Service reported. 

There were slight decreases in Carmel Valley and Marina.

At the end of 2011, there were 1,293 homes on the market, down from 1,574 a year earlier.

What agents call distressed properties — short sales, where the lender accepts a discounted payoff — and foreclosures accounted for 43 percent of the sales last year, said the Association of Realtors. 

In Salinas and the Salinas Valley, 72 percent of the sales last year were foreclosures or short sales.