If you’re just moving into the area you may be wondering about the different housing markets for the greater Silicon Valley area. The counties are a perfect place to start!
Here are the real estate market reports for three major Silicon Valley counties (and where I’m most active in my work): Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, and Santa Cruz County. Generally, “Silicon Valley” is 95% within Santa Clara and San Mateo Counties, plus a little of Santa Cruz County and a small part of Alameda County. Alameda County uses a different MLS system, and I don’t usually sell there, so am not covering it in my reports.
Each section below includes first the data for single family homes and then condos and townhomes for each region.
If you’re ready to dive a little deeper, I also provide regular monthly market updates on some of the popular communities within Santa Clara County over at my Valley of Heart’s Delight blog. Scroll the most recent ones here.
Spring 2022: Three Silicon Valley Counties
Santa Clara County Real Estate Market Report for April 2022
First, Santa Clara County – home to San Jose, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Santa Clara, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Milpitas, Morgan Hill, and a number of other cities and towns.
The market is cooling with fewer offers, which is not something we have good data on, but prices are rising just the same.
Here’s a look at the AVERAGE sale price for houses (single family homes) since 2016. Imagine that the “average” home has gained $1 million in value in just 6 years.
While the winter was hot, spring of 2020 experienced a massive slowdown in market activity at the start of the pandemic, falling to it’s lowest point in Santa Clara County around May and June. This put pressure on the market by stifling spring activity and, over the next two years, created a backlog of demand with severely low available inventory. This has driven prices sky high and bolstered a heightened averae sales to list price ratio, yet inventory continues to fall as demand snowballs out of control!
Despite improving conditions in the pandemic and the Ukraine war’s impact on stocks and inflation, Santa Clara County is keeping up the momentum into a raging hot spring market!
And the condominium and townhouse report for Santa Clara County
While a little less white hot than the single family home market, the condo and townhouse market is also experiencing a brisk seller’s market for most homes.
Keep reading for updates on the San Mateo and Santa Cruz county markets.
San Mateo County Real Estate Market for April 2022
Next, San Mateo County – home to Menlo Park, Redwood Shores, San Mateo, Half Moon Bay, and other Peninsula Communities. This area is generally more expensive than Santa Clara County, with variation, of course – a general rule of thumb might be 20-25% more costly – but that gap has begun to shrink and this March it was only 7% above Santa Clara’s median sales price.
Like the rest of Silicon Valley, 2022 has proven to be a stronger seller’s market than the red hot spring 2021 market. The rising interest rates and return to the office movement may be the cause.
The condo and townhome report for San Mateo County
The market here has also strengthened as compared to a year ago.
Santa Cruz County Real Estate Market Report for April 2022
And lastly, coastal Santa Cruz County. While Santa Clara County and San Mateo County are part of the San Francisco Bay Area, and considered to be “Northern California”, Santa Cruz County is part of the Monterey Bay and is “Central California” or “Central Coast”.
This region is less expensive than Santa Clara County, so is an attractive destination for retirees who don’t want to move too far from home, but benefit from less expensive housing. Santa Cruz County includes the highly regarded University of California Santa Cruz, exquisite beaches, and plenty of wineries – among more reasons to visit, if not make it your home!
Single Family Home (houses, duet homes – not duplexes) in Santa Cruz County:
There’s been a little more up-and-down here compared to the other counties. Santa Cruz single family homes are in a hot seller’s market with soaring prices!
The condominium and townhouse report for Santa Cruz County
Again, this is a very small data set so the market report may show more dramatic change than the market is actually experiencing. Sale prices grew roughly 27% since last year. It’s a seller’s market that’s competing with the other areas despite severely low inventory!
Related reading:
Looking to buy or sell a home in any of these areas? Please reach out to me for an appointment to chat by phone. If it seems like a good fit, we can arrange to meet and strategize your home buying or selling – no cost, no obligation, no pressure.
