According to the California Association of Realtors, foreclosures in California increased in the first quarter of 2007, rising 21% from the fourth quarter of 2006. Between January 1st and March 31st, 46,760 homeowners received default notices from their lending institutions. The median age of these loans was 15 months. This is the highest level of defaults since the second quarter of 1997. During this same period last year, 18,856 default notices were sent out. Although all areas of California have seen an increase in foreclosures, mortgages were least likely to go into default in Marin, San Mateo and San Francisco counties, and most likely in Sacramento, Riverside, and San Joaquin counties.

This wonderful house just went on the market last week. It’s a 4 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom, two story shingle house. The address is 2499 Alpine Road, Menlo Park. It’s set off the street, on a frontage road, and is surrounded by beautiful trees.  There is an attached two car garage and a newer deck in the backyard that complements the hot tub. It’s in the excellent Los Lomitas School District and it’s near Stanford University, Stanford Shopping Center and the popular “Dish” hiking trail. I will be holding it open on Sunday, April 29th from 1:30 to 4:30. This new listing belongs to my good friend Alan Loveless, and it is listed at $1,455,000.

Mark and I have committed to running in the Big Sur Marathon, a trial run that includes 5,700 feet of climbing and descending.

The course follows Old Coast Road (a wide dirt road) north from Highway 1, to Bixby Bridge. Then it winds through the beautiful coastal forests and hills surrounding Big Sur River, with redwood groves, oak and bay forests lining the path. Parts of the course will take us along the bluffs high above the Pacific Ocean, where we’ll be rewarded with panoramic views of the Big Sur coastline. I hope the scenery doesn’t distract me!

We have five months to train. This week I plan on going to the Runner’s High in Menlo Park to have a professional assist me with shoe sizing, as I had some issues with my shoes (I think they were too small) this last weekend at the half marathon. I’ll take today off (I’m still a little sore), then I’ll return to training tomorrow. I’ll step it up a level, too.

Twenty four hours after my first half marathon, I am in lots of pain.  My legs are very sore; it hurts to walk downstairs. It’s the kind of soreness I used to get after running up and down the bleachers at the old Stanford Football Stadium.

The distance of the run wasn’t the cause of the pain, it was the hills. In all, an elevation change of 1600 feet.  Mark had me convinced that it would be easy because the 1600 feet is spread out over 13 miles.  He was wrong. It was brutal!  Physically, it was the hardest thing I have ever done.  I finished 3rd in my age group, and 42 out of 96 overall.  Mark came in first in his age group, and 9th overall! http://www.envirosports.com/results/event/1759/results.php

This is incredible. Runners can go to www.usatf.org and, using google’s incredible mapping technology, map out any route and get the mileage AND elevation (total climbed and the total elevation change).  This tool is especially useful for trail running, for you can use Google’s satellite view and draw your route along the trail (street addresses are not necessary). You’re given the option of saving and naming your routes, as well as adding attributes and a route description. You can even add your water stops! You can also do a search for routes already calcualted. There are 118 routes already mapped out in Palo Alto!

I receive a lot of questions regarding Palo Alto’s schools, as they are often what attract people to this area. The Palo Alto School District makes it easy to find out what school is assigned to a particular address. Simply type in the address in their “school finder” at:

http://capulin.pausd.palo-alto.ca.us:8080/school_finder/SchoolFinder.cfm.   

There is also a link that will take you to a colorful boundary map: http://www.pausd.palo-alto.ca.us/parents/schools_sites/downloads/AttendanceBoundaryMaps.pdf. Ultimately, though, it’s smart to check directly with the district for final confirmation in regards to school assignment, as it’s possible for enrollment at a particular school to be full. Also, sometimes the boundaries get changed to accomodate residential changes (for example, the hundreds of new residents who will be moving into the Arbor Real Development). Another useful link for parents is www.greatschools.net. This site allows you to search nationwide for information on schools, including their API scores.

I recently attended a baby shower at a San Francisco property that I sold about two years ago. I hadn’t seen the property since selling it, so I was excited to see what changes my clients had made. While they were giving me a tour, I walked into the dining room and immediately recognized the painting on the wall as one of my uncle’s. What are the chances of that? They found the painting online and decided they had to buy it. They knew the artist, John Sumner (www.johnsumner.com), shared my last name, but never in a million years thought he could be a relative of mine (I inherited none of my family’s artistic talent). 

John and the other four Sumner brothers, Don (my Dad), Ron (my Dad’s twin), Richard and Bob are all accomplished artists. Ron, before moving to Santa Rosa, had a popular gallery in downtown Menlo Park where he specialized in pet portraits. His work can be viewed at http://www.localcolorgallery.com/ron.htm.  Richard was the founder and owner of Sumner Frames, a successful frame shop and gallery on Emerson Street in downtown Palo Alto (it’s still there today, across from Buca di beppo). My Dad and his four brothers will be having a Sumner Reunion Show later in the year, somewhere in Sonoma County. They all make me very proud!

My uncle’s painting looks fabulous in the dining room of my clients’ magnificent, one-of-a-kind, San Francisco Loft!

Every third Sunday of the month, from 10 am to 1 pm, PATC hosts “drop-in” tennis at Rinconada Park, an informal yet structured, fun event that is open to the public. The drop-in Directors will match you with other players who have similar ratings. Played in 40 minute shifts, you leave the court after each round and get assigned different opponents. It’s important to show-up at 10, or even a little before, as the draws fill-up quickly. Depending on how many people there are, you may have to sit out a round.  It’s an excellent way to meet people who share a common interest! This event is co-sponsored by the City of Palo Alto.

PATC serves hundreds of tennis enthusiasts, both residents and non-residents of Palo Alto. The club offers numerous social and competitive events throughout the year, for both juniors and adults.  This is my second year as a member of the Palo Alto Tennis Club and my first year serving on the Board of Directors.  For more information about the club, go to www.paloaltotennis.com.

Rinconada Park is located at 777 Embarcadero Rd. in Palo Alto. The entrance to the tennis courts is on Hopkins Avenue off of Newell Road.

Here’s a link to a map of all the public tennis courts in Palo Alto: http://www.paloaltotennis.com/directory/courts/map/

Check out and compare these actual Palo Alto sales prices, all of which have closed in the last week, to Zillow’s “zestimate” of the same house.

700 block of Barron Avenue: $1,700,000.  Zillow:  $1,283,960. 

400 block of Fulton: $1,911,000.  Zillow:  $ 1,460,425

1200 block of University Avenue:  $2,100,000   Zillow:  $1,921,950

El Capitan Place:  $1,411,000   Zillow:  $1,138,132

100 block of Monroe Drive:  $1,140,000    Zillow:  $1,003,346

400 block of Hale Street:  $2,800,000  Zillow:  $2,329,240

Sales in Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties are down 14% compared to this time last year. This is due to our current “inventory driven market.” That is, there are plenty of buyers out there, but our supply is way down. Here on the Peninsula, we have 1.5 months of inventory currently available. It takes 3 to 4 months of inventory to make a balanced market.

In Palo Alto right now, almost everything priced below $2,500,000 is receiving multiple offers. There are 40 homes pending sale, nine of which are between $2,000,000 and $3,000,000, and three that are above $3,000,000.  Of the 39 active listings in Palo Alto, only four have had price reductions.