Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog

_{(single-family home data from MLS listings Inc.)}

The high home prices of Los Altos influenced how it reacted to the 2007 bust, mainly a hold off of purchasing (only 38 homes sold in the fourth quarter of 2008) and a depreciation of the median sales price.

This past quarter, Los Altos is still struggling in its sales price to list price ratio, a result of many buyers unwilling to pay the full listing price. But this shouldn’t overshadow that this quarter the city put up the highest median sales price for the year. And compared to the same period in 2009, the median sales price is up 7% and days on market fell 8%, both good signs.

We can only anticipate what 2011 will be for real estate, but if Los Altos is any indication, higher-priced markets could be shaking off their frost a little sooner than the past few years.

Jan.13.2011 [ Filed under: Los Altos, Market Updates, Silicon Valley News ] Comment Here »

_{(single-family home data from MLS listings Inc.)}

One thing to consider when looking at data from Los Altos is that its population of around 30,000 is less than half of the next smallest city in our quarterly comparison. But, on the other hand, the median price is the highest at $1,565,000 — 13% higher than Palo Alto and almost double either Sunnyvale or Mountain View.

In the third quarter of 2010, the median price bumped up 4.3% from last quarter and is equivalent to 2006 levels. Another positive sign for Los Altos is that average days on market is in the 40s range, a significant improvement from the third quarter last year, where it was hanging out at 67 days.

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Oct.26.2010 [ Filed under: Los Altos, Market Updates, Silicon Valley News ] Comment Here »

_{(single-family home data from MLS listings Inc.)}

Los Altos burned through the summer months of the second quarter this year as it showed strong signs towards a sustained housing market recovery.

The median sales price slipped 1.4% from the quarter before, to $1.5 million. But the exciting news for home sellers is the precipitous drop in average days on market to 41, from 73 the quarter before, and 98 closed sales, which is equivalent to the same quarter in 2008. The sales price to list price ratio is 98.21%, meaning that more and more buyers are paying closer to list price, reflecting a shift to balanced buyer and seller perceptions. Total sales volume is $160,352,888, which is 17.3% lower compared to the same period in 2008.

Overall, Los Altos realized the greatest drop in mean sales price of our four comparison cities and has yet to recover the nearly 13% difference in price from the same time period in 2008 — meaning home values are still depreciated in the area.

Aug.10.2010 [ Filed under: Los Altos, Market Updates, Silicon Valley News ] Comment Here »

^{(Main Street in downtown Los Altos)}

Home buyers and sellers are quickly returning to Los Altos after a hesitant 2009 period. Los Altos is primarily a single-family home market as we can see in the first quarter of 2010 results, with 63 single-family homes and six condos sold. The average days on market was just about 60 days.

The median price of single-family homes sold in Los Altos this quarter was $1.47 million, which is slightly higher than the previous year’s first quarter results of $1.435 million.

The effects of the mortgage crisis in 2008 and late 2007 is more apparent when we see that only 32 single-family homes were sold in the first-quarter of 2009.

Los Altos has consistently held its home values, and even in a weak national market, home prices are beginning to rise as buyer confidence returns. Home sales were also strong through the traditionally slow winter months, and we are already seeing multiple offers on well priced homes again.

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Apr.28.2010 [ Filed under: Bay Area Real Estate, Los Altos, Market Updates, Neighborhoods ] Comment Here »

Available supply in the Los Altos market hasn’t been as low since 2000, when the median number for single-family homes jumped an astronomical 48.9% year-over-year.  That year, the number of closed transactions to new listings was almost 2-to-1 (48 closed to 25 new).  The headline number this year is that closed sales are the lowest in a decade, but so was the available inventory.  Relative demand for what’s available has been strong enough to draw notable increases in two key statistics.

Only one condo in Los Altos was sold this August and only a handful more in each of the previous years, so their trends and statistics may have a high variance.  In single-family homes, though, it wasn’t just the fact that the percent of list received jumped from just under full value to 104.31%.  The median listing value also increased 4% year-over-year, meaning homes weren’t just selling for more, they were starting higher too.  The median transaction increased year-over-year as well, from $1,650,000 to $1,782,000 (8%).

For July and August numbers in particular, schools play a large role in housing demand and Los Altos schools are some of the best in Silicon Valley.  I’ve worked with people who’ve made the argument that, assuming that schools are the critical factor in their home-buying decision, paying a premium on a home is preferable to sending their kids to lesser schools, or private schools.  To them, private schools may not be as good socially: the kids who they go to school with may not always live nearby or have as varied backgrounds.  Premiums aren’t necessarily the most financially-conservative route, but choices involving children don’t always need to be.

[ Median Home 2007, 2006 | Market Snapshot | How Much Home Can I Get? ]

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Sep.20.2007 [ Filed under: Los Altos, Market Updates ] Comment Here »