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Menlo Park Housing Market Update – October 2007

There’s an interesting opportunity in Menlo Park when you take into account that the city has multiple personalities. I want to illustrate this using the median home chart below and a couple facts. First, if you look at the homes that are available, there are just as many single-family houses available between $400K and $800K as there are between $1.5M and $2.5M.

Second, the ones at the low end of the range are closer to Redwood City and East Palo Alto, and use Redwood City and Ravenswood Elementary School Districts, respectively. The more expensive ones are closer to Atherton and Palo Alto and are part of the Menlo Park Elementary School District — and its 907 district API score — or the Las Lomitas Elementary School District — and its two schools with a 948 district API score.

So, with that in mind, the median value of homes in Menlo Park can be somewhat of a tug-of-war. For September 2007, there were two transactions for low-income housing which closed at about $330,000 each. If you threw those two out, the median single-family home in Menlo Park was $1,220,000. That’s a realistic 6% decrease year-over-year.

It’s important to look beyond what the numbers are and understand the story behind them. In this case, there’s been some softness in Menlo Park given increasing CDOM numbers, from 19 to 38 year-over-year. (The average CDOM over 10 years is 34.) But, from on the ground experience, there wasn’t anything to indicate a decrease as dramatic as the median value chart would indicate.

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

Oct.14.2007 [ Filed under: Market Updates, Menlo Park ] 1 Comment »

Realtor Notes on the Islands of Foster City

The Islands of Foster City is a 174-unit condominium and townhome complex located along on the central lagoon in Foster City, in a low-traffic area off Beach Park Blvd. (Balboa Lane and Portofino Lane). Because the complex is on an island, most of the homes here have a view of the water.

Oct.05.2007 [ Filed under: Foster City ] Comment Here »

Los Altos Housing Market Update – September 2007

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? ]

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

Sunnyvale Housing Market Update – September 2007

It was a case of home owners sitting out the market. New listings of single-family homes in Sunnyvale were at a 10-year low in August, dropping from 107 in August 2006, to 79 this year. In fact, total inventory levels also dropped slightly, from 130 single-family homes to 127 over the same period.

Sunnyvale’s average number of new listings during the month over the last ten years is 105 and it’s an illustration of why real estate is local. National news headlines from around the country correctly talk about aggregate numbers that are lower because of deflating markets — and many Silicon Valley home owners here who might have considered listing their homes, but could afford to wait, sat out.

But ultimately, real estate is about location, supply, and demand. And while supplies were down, demand was actually both "normal" and "up". The ratio of closed transactions to new listings in August 2007 was 73%. The 10-year average is 74% and it was 58% last year. How did that increase manifest itself? Besides a fourth consecutive year of over-asking closing prices in single-family homes, have a look at the difference in the cost of Median Homes year-over-year.

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

Sep.07.2007 [ Filed under: Market Updates, Sunnyvale ] Comment Here »

Realtor Notes on Belmont Terrace

Belmont Terrace is a 158-unit townhome complex in Sunnyvale, which like its neighbor the Expressions of Sunnyvale, is located to the south of Central Expressway and west of Mathilda Ave., towards Mary Ave. It’s across the street from the Gardens of Sunnyvale townhomes.

Sep.03.2007 [ Filed under: Sunnyvale ] Comment Here »

Realtor Notes on Imperial Avenue in Monta Vista, Cupertino

The Imperial Avenue townhome complex is a 56-unit development in the Monta Vista district of Cupertino. Originally built to be relatively inexpensive, with square footage to fit a growing family, these townhomes are still some of the least expensive homes in high-end Monta Vista.

Aug.31.2007 [ Filed under: Cupertino ] Comment Here »

Mountain View Housing Market Update – August 2007

Higher interest rates for jumbo mortgages is a story for another day, but it does color how home owners should read what I’m about to write. In July, Mountain View experienced a 14% jump in the median for single-family homes from 2006 to 2007. There was also the fact that the percent of list received went from almost full value (99.28%) to 104.4%.

Like many other places in Silicon Valley, like Sunnyvale and Cupertino with their Eichlers and San Mateo with its older homes near downtown, among others, Mountain View has its share of older homes. Many of these homes come on larger lots that give ambitious owners room for expansion. One of this month’s Median Homes illustrates that potential.

Mountain View is a unique environment because of the money from one local company in particular and it was a competitive summer season — as you’ll see, though, not every property experienced the same level of interest.

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

Aug.29.2007 [ Filed under: Market Updates, Mountain View ] 2 Comments »

Realtor Notes on Santana Row Lofts, Flats and Villas

Santana Row is a mixed-use development that brings the urban lifestyle many people expect from big cities, with shops, restaurants and bars within walking distance, into Silicon Valley. There are 219 homes there, across three buildings: The Villa Cornet, The DeForest Building, and The Margo Building. Homes range from pied-a-terre flats to open lofts and townhomes.

Aug.25.2007 [ Filed under: Santana Row ] Comment Here »

Sunnyvale Releases Resident Satisfaction Survey

The City of Sunnyvale released its 2007 Resident Satisfaction Survey, which highlighted that 93% of respondents felt that Sunnyvale was a good or excellent place to live. 84% thought the same of their neighborhood. This chart was taken directly from the PDF document which Sunnyvale provides from the National Research Center.

I thought it was interesting that those folks in the 9% difference didn't like where they were living all that much, but still liked Sunnyvale as a whole. (Usually people who don't like one prefer their neighborhoods over city itself.)

That satisfaction rating puts Sunnyvale in the 81st percentile nationwide. Not bad. People didn't think highly of the city as a place to retire (26th percentile) or — shockingly — as a place with access to "affordable quality housing" (24th percentile). It is the "Heart of Silicon Valley" after all.

But where Sunnyvale excelled in the survey was in "openness and acceptance towards people of diverse backgrounds" (95th percentile), "quality of police services" (93rd percentile), and value for tax money spent (94th percentile).

Aug.25.2007 [ Filed under: Silicon Valley News, Sunnyvale ] Comment Here »

Realtor Notes on Montebello Cupertino

The Montebello Cupertino, located at the intersection of Stevens Creek Blvd. and De Anza Blvd., is home to over 200 homes ranging from one-bedroom condominium flats to 1700 square foot, 3 bedroom townhomes.

This is a popular complex in Cupertino and, during a traditionally busy summer, seven units (one currently pending) at the Montebello have been sold over the last three months.

Have a look at my complete notes on the Montebello Cupertino, or jump right to its: