Silicon Valley Real Estate Market Report

This is a quick update on the performance of several local markets around Silicon Valley.  As the statistics below clearly show, most markets showed nice price gains in 2010 including most of the luxury markets.  These figures indicate that the trend down has stopped and the trend up is beginning again. While the markets are improving, this doesn't mean we've entered a seller's market where prices will spiral upward in the hot spring market.

I expect that this year we'll see most markets improve in the 1-6% range again (depending on the market).  The hottest markets from last year will likely cool down a little this year and the softer markets will likely see larger gains this year.  What will drive these price increases includes corporate spending, job growth, and low interest rates.  As the high-tech industry continues to recover, move-up buyers from the lower end of the market will start entering upgraded markets such as Sunnyvale, Mountain View, and Cupertino.  Sellers from those markets will continue moving to Los Altos and Palo Alto further driving demand.

                                        2010 Market Summary Statistics

                                                  Average Selling Price

                                 2009                   2010                  Change

Los Altos                $1,654,914          $1,688,322              +2.0%

Los Altos Hills         $2,614,368           $2,590,416              -0.9%

Mountain View        $946,438              $956,709                 +1.1%

Sunnyvale              $714,442              $760,772                +6.5%

Cupertino               $1,121,641           $1,112,847              -0.8%

Saratoga                $1,557,682           $1,646,386              +5.7%

Palo Alto                $1,516,480            $1,557,004             +2.7%

Menlo Park             $1,239,814            $1,309,892             +5.7%

Atherton                 $3,317,045            $3,510,434             +5.8%