SPECIAL REPORT: The current status of the housing market on the Central Coast

We live in an area with a very unique housing market, and with the Bay Area so close, it’s become a battle for who can find a home first.

So we had to ask…has the Central Coast become a buyer’s, or a seller’s market…and what does that mean for you?

The views from this luxury home are breathtaking. You can see the entire peninsula and if the day is clear, even as far as Half Moon Bay.

This 4-bedroom, 5-bath estate sits on five acres in Carmel Valley. It’s so striking, it was featured nationally on the show ‘What’s for sale? With a view.’

“Anytime we have the opportunity to showcase our area, the magnificent homes we have, we feel it’s just so fun to share with the rest of the world,” says Real Estate Agent Mark Peterson.

But what locals and the rest of the world realize is that the price is as stunning as the views–a cool $9.8 million.

And let’s be honest, this is kind of home is not something most of us can afford. In fact, the housing crisis has created a struggle for most working-class people in California. And Governor Gavin Newsom has made it one his main priorities.

“We maintain the dubious status of having the highest poverty rates in the us, for one reason, cost of living,” says Newsom.

And while large houses like this are fine for the wealthy, Peterson agrees there can be more done for the other 99 percent.

“I do think that this community in general does understand that we have a little bit of a difference between what our primary economy is and the level of income versus what some if our home prices are. I do think that we are seeing a number of different projects and initiatives that are coming together to help try to establish more housing. People are looking for solutions and they know that it is something that we need to do as a community here,” says Peterson.

“In my opinion the market is turning to more of a healthy market and what I mean by that, by no means is it a decline. I think we’re just going to see some leveling,” says Chad Hawker with Synergy One Lending.

Peterson calls this a buyer’s and seller’s market. And because the demand for homes remains strong, he doesn’t see a crash happening anytime soon.

And even if it does, that might not matter on the peninsula.

“We’re up against a market that has been appreciating really rapidly and now that needs to slow down, that needs to stop so whenever we see the shift, we associate change, we associate decline. That in my opinion is not what we’re facing. We’re just facing a slowing of values, which over the long run in my opinion is a good thing,” says Hawker.

Many economists agree the housing market will continue to cool in 2019.

“A limited supply is not going to change. If we couple that along with what’s going on in the Bay Area, there’s more than 200 billion in IPOs that’s going to come out this year, so there’s a lot of money being generated nearby. We also always have demand from the Central Valley, from the Bay Area, from other states and it is so beautiful, that’s not going to change,” says Peterson.