Market Reports for Three Silicon Valley Counties

Below please find real estate market reports for three Silicon Valley counties where I’m most active: Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, and Santa Cruz County. First we’ll provide the data for single family homes, then condos and townhomes, for each region. (“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.)

Spring 2020: Three Silicon Valley Counties

Santa Clara County Real Estate Market Report for May 2020

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. This area has generally come up in price about 2-3% since last year, and list price is up approximately 3% from last month while the sale price has dropped roughly 2%. Of course, it wasn’t an even slide. Late summer and winter saw a drops after last year’s highest peak in sales price around late spring. We’re currently near the usual seasonal peak market, beating the sales price average of 2019 but still below peak prices from May 2018.

And the condominium and townhouse report for Santa Clara County:

This year shows about a 5% drop in price for condos and townhomes since last year, and about a 3% rise in median list price and a 0.5% drop in median sale price from last month.

San Mateo County Real Estate Market for May 2020

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. This area shows about a 3% list price increase since last month but a roughly 5% decrease from last year, and a roughly 7% decrease in median sale price since last year but holding steady since last month.

The condo and townhome report for San Mateo County:

Since last month, prices have dipped around 9-14%, and dipped roughly 7-13% since last year.

Santa Cruz County Real Estate Market Report for May 2020

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 that Santa Clara County, so is an attractive destination for retirees who don’t really want to move too far from home, but benefit from less expensive housing. Santa Cruz County includes the highly regarded University of California at 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:

Santa Cruz shows a 3-12% price decrease since last month, and a 3-9% drop since last year. This is a smaller market, so larger swings in data can be expected.

The condominium and townhouse report for Santa Cruz County:

Again, this is a very small data set so it may show more dramatic change than the market actually has. That said, this month has a 7% list price increase since last month, and a 3% decrease since last year. Sale prices decreased less than 1% since last month and a little more than 1% since last year. Likely this reflects more which sectors of the market are selling rather than the real values of properties across the county changing.

Related reading:

Where is Silicon Valley?

Silicon Valley weather

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 in person and strategize your home buying or selling – no cost, no obligation, no pressure.