Real Estate And Homes For Sale – real-estate-and-homes-for-sale.com

House Prices Near SF vs. San Mateo House Prices

House prices in cities near San Francisco have been appreciating more slowly than in San Mateo. San Mateo house price appreciation is barely higher than that of San Mateo County.

House Price Appreciation

If house price trends in San Mateo County are carefully examined, 2018 appears to have been a turning point for house prices. The short-term spikes in 2018 and in early 2022 are very noticeable, but the trend from late 2018 to 2026 is flatter than that from 2012 to 2018.

In early 2022, house prices fell further from their 1st-quarter 2022 peak for cities near San Francisco than for San Mateo.

Age Of Houses Sold

If the age of the houses sold in a city such as San Bruno, located close to SF, is compared to San Mateo, there is a significant difference beginning in mid 2019.

The faint red line shows the average age of houses sold in San Mateo, while the strong red line shows the average age of houses sold in San Bruno. The age of houses sold in San Mateo did not increase as much as in San Bruno.

Cause Or Simply Correlation

Events and market conditions can cause quick changes in real estate trends, but there are almost always multiple factors affecting home prices. A change in interest rates can quickly change how many new homes developers want to build. Local governments can change zoning, affecting the types of housing built.

New homes almost always sell at a premium over older homes. A significant change in the number of new houses sold would affect the average sales price. The graphs above show that the median age changed little, while the average changed significantly. This implies that a relatively small number of younger, likely new homes were affecting the average age, but their numbers dropped dramatically in 2019.

The real estate trends for this article come from https://julianalee.com/blog/san-mateo-county-vs-santa-clara-county-real-estate-trends-age/

Will YIMBY Create Increased Condo Demand?

real estate trends

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/

Mountain View Row-House Development Ending?

new homes

The Dec 10, 2020, closing of the Summerhill Homes purchase of the Meadowood Apartments may be the last redevelopment of apartment complexes in Mountain View for some time. SB 330 prevents the reduction of the number of housing units, prevents reducing the number of rent-controlled units, and requires additional tenant relocation assistance.

SummerHill Homes had obtained approval to demolish the two-story apartment building and build 115 row houses before closing the purchase. The row houses will be three and four bedroom homes ranging in size from 2,014 to 2,446 square feet.

See “Last Mountain View Row-House Development“.

Google Continues Silicon Valley Expansion

economy

Google has modified its plans to include 7,000 residential units for Google’s campus in north Mountain View. Google has proposed that 20% of the homes (1,400) be “affordable” homes. That is double the number of affordable homes already in Mountain View. The plans include 3.1 million square feet of office space and 265,000 square feet of local shops. Google is continuing to expand its presence in Silicon Valley.

Google was reported on Dec 14, 2020, to have notified its employees to live within commuting distance of their assigned office. They will be expected to show up three days a week. Google has delayed working-in-person until Sept 1, 2021, for its employees.

Building Backyard Cottages, In-Law Units, or ADUs

real estate laws

California laws taking effect Jan 1, 2021 allow more homeowners to build backyard cottages or accessory dwelling units (ADUs).

Cities and counties can have regulations but the regulations must have:

No minimum lot size requirement.
No required replacement parking when a parking garage is converted into an ADU.
No required parking for an ADU created through the conversion of existing space or located within a half-mile walking distance of a bus stop or other public transit.
No height limit under 16 feet or side/rear setbacks requirements over 4 feet.
No setbacks requirements for conversions/replacements of existing legal structures.
Floor area ratio (FAR) and similar restrictions must be relaxed to allow development of an 800 sq ft ADU.
Design standards must be objective and are assessed by staff, not elected officials.

More details are available at Backyard Cottage, Accessory Dwelling Unit

Downtown Mountain View Home Prices

neighborhoods

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic there was speculation that urban home prices would suffer. Looking at Mountain View house prices through the end of December, 2020, there is no indication that home prices in Downtown Mountain View are affected.

More information about the Downtown Mountain View neighborhood, including more real estate trends and downtown attractions, is available at: Downtown Mountain View.