Silicon Valley CA Real Estate For Sale

siliconvalleycarealestateforsale.com

Will YIMBY Create Increased Condo Demand?

by

A recent look at YIMBY vs NIMBY said that a person’s attitude about high-density housing was strongly affected by how urban centers were widely viewed when that person was about 18. Boomers were about 18 years old at a time when urban centers had numerous problems reported. When other generations were 18, urban life was viewed as having more activities, parties, and nightlife. Other generations were 18 when suburbs were claimed to be resource-wasteful and caused excessive ecological damage.

Currently Silicon Valley house prices are growing faster than Silicon Valley condo prices. This could be due to a different proportion of renters vs owners for condos vs. houses. It could be due to houses typically being larger than condos.

It should be noted that increased mortgage interest rates have increased the cost of buying a condo. Flat prices do not mean demand is falling.

Will the attitudes of new generations drive the demand for condos and thus their prices up? More discussion is posted at https://julianalee.com/blog/nimby-yimby-condo-demand/

House Price Up But Price Per Sq.Ft. Down

by

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 size of San Mateo houses sold
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.

New Townhouse Construction Greater Than Single Family Or Condo

by

Looking at the new homes built in Silicon Valley by the five largest builders in 2020 shows: 316 townhouses built, 230 condos built, and 148 single family houses built.

Townhouse construction surpasses both single family and condo construction. With local cities having height restrictions, townhouses can be built to the same density as condos. If smaller homes were wanted, condo construction might surpass townhouses, but most home buyers want 3+ bedrooms.

With so few new homes being built, Silicon Valley real estate market trends are likely to continue showing homes prices climbing faster than incomes.

Drought Tolerant Landscape

by

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“.