Carmel Point is located south of Santa Lucia Avenue on the southern border of the small community known as Carmel-By-The-Sea. The “Point” is bounded on the west and south by Carmel Bay and Stewart’s Cove and on the east by the Mission Ranch and the historic Carmel Mission founded by Father Junipero Serra in the summer of 1771. This area was once characterized as an unforgiving, windswept and craggy piece of land, hardly worth anything “cause you couldn’t grow nothin but scrub grass.” See the Map of Carmel Point
In 1856, John Martin and his family ended their long voyage and docked in Monterey. It is said they disembarked to eat a wonderful lunch under a massive oak tree. Years later this historic family purchased property that stretched from the Carmel Mission west to encompass all of what is now known as Carmel Point. One of the earliest dairies in California was built on this site and many of the buildings still exist including the original homestead residence pictured above . We now know this property as Mission Ranch, owned by local Carmel citizen, Clint Eastwood.
For years Carmel Point has been a good leading indicator of the health of the Carmel area wide marketplace. Historically the Point has been the marketplace of greatest demand and highest real estate values as measured by per sq ft sales costs. It appears that the number of sales bottomed out in 2009 with only 8 sales, with unit sales of 20 in 2010 and again 20 in 2011, returning to a pre 2005 range . As in previous real estate cycles, Carmel Point has tended to improve much earlier than areas such as Pebble Beach and Carmel Valley. Although this current cycle is unlike any other over the past 35 years, early indications appear to be confirming this past trend. See Carmel Point Sales 2011
So what does this portend for 2012 and the future health of our local markets? As with all predictions, we look thru a glass darkly. However it does appear that for Carmel Point, the worst may be over and we are near or at the end of the cycle. Many factors will determine if this is correct, the health of the overall economy and consumer sentiment. If past trends are meaningful, we may be looking forward to better signs of health in the surrounding areas of Carmel Valley and Pebble Beach. All eyes will be following closely.
