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Uploaded: Thursday, July 26, 2007, 10:33 AM
Housing market through the roof
Mountain View bucks trend, with single-family homes going faster than ever
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by Daniel DeBolt
Mountain View Voice Staff
| While the housing market seems to have slowed elsewhere, single-family homes have been selling faster than ever in Mountain View, according to recent statistics.
In the second quarter of 2007, single-family homes sold in Mountain View within 13 days -- consistently the shortest time on the market of any city in the South Bay or lower Peninsula within the last nine months. Sunnyvale and Palo Alto were close behind.
Days on the market is the best way to gauge demand, experts say, making Mountain View the most sought-after property in the region.
The median price of homes has jumped to $1.1 million, up from $882,000 in the first quarter of 2006. Homes in the Monta Loma neighborhood, for example, are now in the $850,000 range and typically sell within eight days.
Nick French, a broker for Catton Properties, said Mountain View and nearby cities are facing "a lot of demand" from buyers with children looking for good schools, but the area is also facing "very little supply."
"It's really the schools that are driving it," French said. Markets with good schools are doing well, while others aren't.
Former City Council member Greg Perry, who consistently pushed for more housing in Mountain View while on the council, said the economy, rather than schools, should get the credit.
"Mountain View has had more job growth in the last couple of years than we have ever seen. As a result we have a housing market we haven't seen either," he said.
Perry bemoaned what the changes have wrought for middle-class families hoping to live in Mountain View. "It used to be Mountain View was an island where people could afford to live," he said. "The middle class is being forced out and is being replaced with tech executives, doctors and lawyers."
On the upside, residents of Mountain View have reported strong satisfaction with city services, paid for in part with increased sales revenue, property tax revenue and city land leases with companies like Google.
From French's point of view, "We are very lucky to live in this area," he said.
In San Jose or the East Bay, by contrast, the housing market has been deeply impacted by foreclosures and sub-prime loans. French said the current inventory of homes in east San Jose and in parts of the East Bay will sit on the market for up to a year, while the total current inventory of homes in Mountain View and its surrounding cities will be gone in a month.
Condo prices have also remained high because of the large number of young high-tech workers in the city, French said. The median price of a condo is now $633,000, up from $530,000 in the first quarter of 2006.
French said 98 percent of his clients are high-tech executives with children, in households where "each person makes $90,000 to $100,000 or more. That's the typical buyer." Are you receiving Express, our free daily e-mail edition? See a sample and sign-up for Express.
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| Comments
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Posted by Chris Chow, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 26, 2007 at 11:35 am I saw a great deal on mls listings a Mountain View home 4 bed 2 bath 2000 sq ft in for $888,000 I think 172 Gladys Ave. I am suprised this has not sold yet.
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Posted by GSB, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Jul 26, 2007 at 12:39 pm Unfortunately, more evidence that people that make $60,000+ a year still can't afford to live here. How sad.
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Posted by C-Biscuit, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 27, 2007 at 4:51 pm
What is really unfair is for the people that earn up to and less than $50,000 per year can barely afford or can't live here.
That's not fair at all. This city is full of run down apartments which is not maintained by property management companies and by it's owners.
How is it fair for us to pay about $975 for a studio that's falling apart? Really we should be asking ourselves why the hell is a studio worth $975 a month? This is ridiculous.
It should be worth so much to live here, because Mt. View is not all that great. Neither is it's neighboring cities like Sunnyvale. Sunnyvale is a dirt hole compared to Mt. View. In any event, things need to change here soon this city will end up like another Beverly Hills to be filled with Snooty Rich People.
I would suggest that Mt View start making more affordable housing because people like me won't be able to live here in the next few years with the rate of rent going up. [Expletive removed by Mountain View Voice staff.]
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Posted by AdamS, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Jul 30, 2007 at 9:12 am The comment about Gladys sounds like a shill to me. If it's not selling, it's probably not priced right. There are factors besides "Mountain View" such as the school and the type of house. It looks like this one is intended as a rental property and isn't exactly what most people want as a primary resident. No offense. Price it right and the buyers will come.
This is a very illuminating article, but the online version seems to be missing about half of the paper version. One interesting comment in the full article was that long-time Google employees are "cashing in stock options" to buy in Los Altos while the Mountain View broker (Nick French) claims to be seeing more Cisco employees than Google. This is purely a guess, but a tidal wave of money into Los Altos could be driving prices so high there as to push prospective Los Altos buyers into Mountain View and driving out the traditional ones (not that Mountain View was cheap 5 years ago or anything).
It'd be sad to see Mountain View turn into a community of just executives, doctors, and lawyers. I thought it was bad enough that people with "normal" jobs are being priced out (or lured away if they were lucky enough to buy early). But I'm starting to think that the working engineer may become an endangered species around here.
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Posted by AdamS, a resident of the Sylvan Park neighborhood, on Jul 30, 2007 at 9:30 am C-Biscuit: "Really we should be asking ourselves why the hell is a studio worth $975 a month?"
It's worth it because of the proximity to high-paying jobs. Actually, that doesn't sound any worse than the rental market (and condition of properties) that I remember from 10 years ago. I would argue that Mountain View is a nice place to live for a number of reasons, and the downtown seems to get better every year. But you're paying for a commuting location, and the rental market, while steep has at least avoided the excesses of the real estate market.
I'm with you on the appalling condition of the properties. But what's the alternative. Renovate them at raise rents, or (if you can) convert to condos and drive out everyone with normal jobs. Is that what you want?
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Posted by Jim Thurber, a resident of the Shoreline West neighborhood, on Jul 30, 2007 at 10:03 am As a school teacher I am very close to being priced out of the area -- and that includes rental prices. A living solution for lower paid residents isn't an easy one but shouldn't be forgotten in the (unrestrained) rise in the cost of living in the Bay Area.
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Posted by MV Resident, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Jul 31, 2007 at 10:23 am It's simple "Supply and Demand." People who argue for cheaper rent and cheaper (or stagnant) housing do not see the larger picture: this is a capitalistic society, not a socialistic one.
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Posted by MrSaito, a resident of another community, on Jul 31, 2007 at 7:34 pm Wow! How Googlelicious! Very soon now even the most modest of shacks will be worth $1.5 million dollars; it's inevitable. Mountain View just can not be stopped. It is truly immune to all that ails the rest of the Bay Area housing market. I love Mountain View! Even though it does have 3 superfund sites, but that just makes it more unique and special of a place. Now that it has been anointed with a Whole Foods store it is truly blessed and poised for further price appreciations - Goooooo MV!
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Posted by MV Resident, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Aug 1, 2007 at 10:45 am Just a FYI. WholeFoods is located in Los Altos, not Mountain View.
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Posted by Greg, a resident of the Castro City neighborhood, on Aug 6, 2007 at 3:04 pm I have been a Mtn. View resident since the 1970's and served on the original downtown revitalization committee. For those who don't remember, (or weren't born yet), the downtown used to be a pretty dreadful place, a collection of stinky, run-down whiskey bars and shady-looking card clubs. The transformation that has taken place over the last 30 years is precisly what the committee envisioned happening back then, only even better. Naturally, I didn't forsee that the $60K homes in the city core would someday be selling for over $1M (wish I had), but Mtn. View didn't get to be the vibrant and attractive "place to be" that it is now by accident. Every step of the way, it was carefully thought out, and executed via a master plan. Much credit is due the Council Members, Committee Members, and City Staff who found against sometimes tremendous opposition to turn this city into the beautiful (and much envied) community that it is today. Sure the housing prices have skyrocketed, but that's been true all over the Bay Area. At least here in Mtn. View, your money buys you more than a house or condo. It buys you a piece of true community, and that- as the credit card commercial says- is "priceless"!
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Posted by Peter, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Aug 7, 2007 at 9:43 am I totally agree with the previous comment….
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Posted by Chris Chow, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Aug 7, 2007 at 11:59 am Mountain View Rocks! compared to other cities-it's so diverse in everything: stores, brilliant downtown layout, people, and things to do. So can we help it if we are highly desireable?! lol
For those who can't afford the extremely high housing prices "google" Eden Housing and the Community Housing Alliance and see if you can apply for the below market price housing-it's worth the wait.
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Posted by eric, a resident of another community, on Aug 8, 2007 at 3:05 pm real estate prices in Mountain View will never go down. they have been on an upward move forever. my advice is to buy and never sell.
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Posted by Chris Chow, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Aug 20, 2007 at 11:29 am 172 Gladys Ave SOLD in less than 30 days with multiple offers!
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Posted by Mr. $$$$$$$$$$$$$$, a resident of the Old Mountain View neighborhood, on Mar 24, 2009 at 5:04 pm THOSE THAT CAN'T AFFORD MV BETTER HIT THE ROAD TO A GHETTO TOWN,
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Posted by eric, a resident of another community, on Mar 24, 2009 at 10:36 pm Greg Perry doesnt know what he's talking about. Home sales in surrounding communities are off. If job growth in MV were the driver, that would not be the case. Office vacancies are up in MV, so job growth seems unlikely (and it seems that Perry would like to take credit for the percieved growth, but I dont think he works in business development for Google). Stength only in small defined markets would not come from factors that would influence the region.
Its the schools and the community. I hope that Greg Perry doesnt get in a position again to turn MV into a high density traffic nightmare, instead of the very desirable, livable city that it is now.
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Posted by eric, a resident of another community, on Mar 24, 2009 at 10:39 pm Oh, and a PS to Greg-- THANK YOU for your work years ago on the downtown revitalization! City Hall Plaza, Centennial Park, and all of Castro Street are a huge benefit to our city!
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