Silicon Valley CA Homes For Sale – siliconvalleycahomesforsale.com

“The Old Paradigm Of Low Interest Rates … Is Not Going To Return”

2023-10-31 By Juliana Lee Team

Ken Rosen, the chairman of the Fisher Center For Real Estate, at Berkeley’s Hass School of Business, talked recently about future real estate trends. Two points stood out: 1.) The old paradigm of low interest rates is not going to return in the foreseeable future. 2.) The doubling of debt service costs and cap rates has decreased values and now may be the best opportunity to buy real estate below replacement costs we’ve had since the early 1990’s.

Silicon Valley House Prices

Silicon Valley real estate trends show relatively flat house prices after the price drop at the beginning of 2022. The drop in values Dr. Rosen talked about only weakly applies to Silicon Valley houses. However, he also brought up replacement costs. The increased financing cost and increased cost of materials has brought the construction of new market rate apartments to a halt in San Jose. Replacement costs have discouraged builders from starting new housing projects. With neither interest rates nor building costs likely to decrease, waiting for change before trying to achieve your housing goals is not likely to be a good plan.

Real estate economist Ken Rosen on YouTube.

“The Old Paradigm Of Low Interest Rates … Is Not Going To Return”

2023-10-31 By Juliana Lee Team

San Mateo House Prices

San Mateo real estate trends show relatively flat house prices after the price drop at the beginning of 2022. The drop in values Dr. Rosen talked about only weakly applies to San Mateo houses. However, he also brought up replacement costs. The increased financing cost and increased cost of materials has brought the construction of new market rate apartments to a halt in San Jose. Replacement costs have discouraged builders from starting new housing projects. With neither interest rates nor building costs likely to decrease, waiting for change before trying to achieve your housing goals is not likely to be a good plan.

Real estate economist Ken Rosen on YouTube.

House Price Up But Price Per Sq.Ft. Down

2023-08-25 By Juliana Lee Team

The San Mateo City average house price rose in line with previous quarters, but the San Mateo City median house price spiked up. The details of San Mateo real estate show that in the third quarter, the average size of houses sold was up 10%.

Average and Median price of San Mateo houses sold

Examination of other San Mateo County cities revealed that eight other cities (Foster City, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park, Millbrae, Pacifica, Portola Valley, San Carlos, & Woodside) also had a significant house size increase as of the Aug 18 close of escrow data. Examining more of Silicon Valley revealed that Palo Alto was the only city in Santa Clara County to have a similar increase in the size of houses sold. With no other significant changes seen in the trends of those cities, it is hard to assign a cause. Perhaps the continuing problems reported for the city of San Francisco have changed the long-term plans of the residents of nearby cities. People less motivated by jobs (near retirement) or children (off to college) to stay put might be deciding their long-term future is elsewhere.

Drought Tolerant Landscape

2022-02-01 By Juliana Lee Team

The “Lawn Be Gone” rebate offers up to $4 per sq. ft. of lawn which is replaced by drought-tolerant plants from the BAWSCA Approved Plant List. The list includes more than 2500 plants

There are several related rebate programs for San Mateo County which might significantly reduce the cost of putting in a drought-tolerant landscape. See “Drought Tolerant Landscape – Water Conservation – Rebates“.

Real Estate Trends – House vs. Condo

2021-01-13 By Juliana Lee Team

Perhaps now is a particularly good time for first time home buyers to buy a condo.

In our 2021/01/09 webinar & our 2021/01/10 Chinese webinar we pointed out a difference in Silicon Valley real estate trends for houses vs. real estate trends for condos. House prices have been climbing a little faster than condo prices.

Santa Clara County House Prices (per sq.ft.)

Santa Clara County Condo Prices (per sq.ft.)

The incoming Biden administration has talked about a $15,000 tax credit for home buyers. The home prices in Silicon Valley are high enough that the credit will be more meaningful for condo buyers. With the difference in price between houses and condos recently increasing, and a potential tax credit driving up demand, buying a condo now could prove to be an even better than the normal choice for first time home buyers. Rent vs. Buy considerations, and low mortgage interest rates, make owning any home significantly better than renting for most Silicon Valley residents.

Condo owners are typically younger and more mobile than the average home buyer. The spread in house vs. condo prices is probably a short term reaction to the pandemic.

Very long term trends are still likely to favor homes with yards over homes without yards. New construction in Silicon Valley is nearly always townhouses and condos because of the high cost and limited availability of land. The expected increase in homes with little or no yard probably won’t keep up with demand, so all prices are likely to rise, but the number of homes with yards is likely to decrease as older housing is replaced with newer housing. Your own private outdoor space is slowly headed towards becoming an expensive luxury.

Buying a condo now should be an excellent path towards owning a bigger home in the future.