Mountain View prices: condos vs houses

To piggy back on my last blog, it is definitely interesting to research and compare how different areas within Mountain View (or any City for that matter) may have fared in the past 4 years, whether in the condominium market or the house market.  But how did houses fare vs condominiums?

It turns out that they did about the same:  from the average price in 2006 to the average price in 2010, condominiums lost 4.4% in value, while houses lost 3.4%  - a close contest.  The only thing one can see is that the condominium market went down faster than the house market in 2008 - in average figures... not in median figures.

It mirrors fairly closely what the County of Santa Clara experienced.  Are you curious about your area?  Let me know I am curious too.

Francis

Silicon Valley real estate

A link worthy of interest:  Community Services Agency

How do you search for a home in Mountain View ?...

How do you search for a home in Mountain View ?...

There are plenty of search engines that will help you search for a home online, (i.e. see at the end of this post), but the first step is often to know where in town you would like to be ideally. Most areas in Mountain View are associated with a name, and there is an app for that – I mean a map for that, in the “Neighborhoods” publication of the Mountain View Voice. It looks like this:



Just click on it to see it in more details.

MLS areas, used by real estate agents, function somewhat in the same manner, so that for instance it is easy to look for properties, say, on the North of Central expressway, or downtown, or in “Cuesta Park”… you can mix that with other criteria like: schools, age, size, etc… there are more than 300 criteria to search by in the MLS. So, when the time comes to really look for your dream house, it makes sense to work with a professional who knows his (MLS) tools and areas.

I love it when asked questions like “which area appreciates most” or “lost most value”. It is absolutely possible to check this out, but it just takes time, and you need to know exactly what type of property you are researching. Curious about a specific neighborhood? Let me know.

Thanks for reading.

MLS search in Mountain View, CA
Home statistics – Silicon Valley

A link worthy of interest: http://www.ourbrothershome.org/

Median prices: a perspective - California vs local. Mountain View

Single family residences:
 
California median home price: February 2011: $271,320 (Source: C.A.R.)

California highest median home price by region/county February 2011: Marin $632,580 (Source: C.A.R.)

California lowest median home price by region/county February 2011: Merced $117,270 (Source: C.A.R.)

Santa Clara County median home price in March: $ 567,500,
Mountain View median home price in March:       $ 880,000
Los Altos median home price in March:                $ 1,595,500
Palo Alto median home price in March:                $ 1,564,000
(A lot) More Cities and details at:   Santa Clara County  and San Mateo County
 
Thanks for your interest!
Francis
 
Silicon Valley real estate.
Search the MLS from the comfort of your home.

Santa Clara County real estate pulse... + notable fundraising event

The average price for a house in the Silicon Valley (Santa Clara County to be more precise) went up a whopping 14% when compared with the month of February (to ~ $767K), and about 3.6% over what it was a year ago. (note: this is "average", not "median").

There is a graph, published every week in the San Jose Mercury News real estate section, that shows that about 34% of houses sell for more than list price in the County.  How can it be, one wonders?

Some of it is, for instance, in what happened to one of my clients recently when placing an offer of an REO (= real estate owned; or in other words, a foreclosure): there were 7 offers, and of course the sales price is going to be higher than the asking price.  We have a very enviable situation in our area, in that investors and homeowners alike see value in the Valley, and when prices are low enough, they buy.  Also, there is quite a bit of money in the Valley.  As a consequence, property values are quite sustained, and in the best areas the market is competitive - a sellers' market.


For single family homes - 3-month moving average.

Coming soon near you:  Craft Faire: an exciting fundraising event for our veterans programs. The event will have about 40 crafters indoors and outside at the American Legion Hall, 958 Homestead Road, Santa Clara. The hall is located just a few blocks from El Camino and is near the corner of Lafayette & Homestead. The event will be held on April 9th from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Thank you for reading!
Francis

Silicon Valley real estate.