It's not world famous for it's homes or real estate. Folks outside Silicon Valley know it as the birthplace of the iPhone. Apple, Symantec, and a very large portion of HP --- to name a few --- call it home. To locals, Cupertino is synonymous with the school system. The Cupertino Union School District has 24 elementary and middle schools, 19 of which are ranked by the California Department of Education as 10 out of 10 statewide.
And that doesn't account for the elite Monta Vista High School, as well as Lynbrook High School or Homestead High School (as part of the Fremont Union High School District shared with Sunnyvale and other cities) which all rate 10 out of 10 statewide as well.
So, it's not surprising that real estate in the Cupertino part of Silicon Valley would command a premium. How much? The darker lines on the chart show what the median price of condos and townhomes, and single-family homes in Cupertino. The faded lines show what the median home prices are in Santa Clara County as a whole.
The difference between the two types of lines is the premium you pay in housing prices to live in Cupertino. How much is that premium and how has it changed over the last decade?
Cupertino Home Prices Commanding Consistent PremiumsSteady state. Or at least as steady as real estate gets in June. Over the month of June in past five years, Cupertino home prices have remained consistently above Santa Clara County prices, to the point where it's almost a flat line. For my clients who are home owners in Cupertino, that's good because it means land values have basically increased at the same rate as the rest of the county. And because the numbers are larger, the amount of money gained is greater. This stability is actually a good indicator for my clients who are home buyers as well.
Given the talk in the news about home market collapses around the country, many home buyers are risk averse, preferring to minimize the amount of their potential loss rather than maximize their potential gain. A vast majority of people in this part of the Silicon Valley market cycle fall into this category.
I tell my clients who are looking for a home that the Cupertino housing market can be characterized right now as competitive but stable, evidenced by the consistency of growth in home prices over the last half-decade and its relatively low inventory levels.
(My clients will contrast this with my article in April when I said Cupertino townhomes and condos were a "steal" at a median price of $650,000 vs. $683,500 in June. I also mentioned there would be some pricing pressure in single-family homes towards the end of the school year. In April 2007, the median single-family home price was $1.225M; during May, dipped to $1.172M; when the school year let out in June, it was $1.206M.)
Demand for high-quality townhomes, condominiums and houses in Cupertino has not been completely met because of a strong decrease in homes available over the last year. Inventory, arguably, is at levels not seen as low since 2000, and multiple offers on good properties are still common. The number of days-on-market for a good property
For my clients who want the strongest schools for their children, Cupertino makes an equally strong case. For my clients who want a solid foundation for their real estate investment, Cupertino --- with its steady indicators and foundation in education --- represents a safe decision.
(c) Steve Leung for the Silicon Valley Real Estate Blog at 1SiliconValley.com
[The raw data about area home prices is supplied by the local MLS, RE InfoLink. The analysis is my proprietary work.]
Recommended Reading:
- Determining Your Must-Haves When Buying a Home
- Emotions in Real Estate: From Fear to Elation
- The Yearly Cycles Behind the Silicon Valley Real Estate Market
- Investing in the Right Bay Area School District
- Download the Silicon Valley Home Buyers Book
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