by Mary Pope-Handy | Jan 4, 2025 | Buying Tips, For Sale, Market trends & statistics, Real Estate, Schools
If you’re moving to Silicon Valley, you may want to buy a house with good schools for any number of reasons, whether it’s for your family’s use or for resale value or anything else.
What does it cost to buy a house with good schools?
Some areas in Silicon Valley have notably strong public elementary schools as well as middle and high schools. Others have highly scoring public schools only at one level or another. To provide a broad view, we will use this criteria in asking what does it cost to buy a house with good schools:
A house of about 2,000 square feet with 3-5 bedrooms in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Los Altos Hills. This is not an exhaustive list. Many areas in the large city of San Jose have excellent schools, too, as do portions of other cities, but it does vary.
Please note these two things: first, Los Altos Hills has very large parcels of about 1 acre or more, and houses there are usually not as small as what we are studying here. Second, Los Gatos has 3 zip codes with 95033 being in the mountains (not low foothills) and those homes are far less expensive than homes in 95030 and 95032. For great schools, the mountains are a great value (but it’s a longer commute and there are complications with living there, such as insurance issues and fire risk).
Here’s a quick look at what single family homes have been selling for over the last three months:
- Los Gatos: depending on the school district, “in town” 95030 and 950321 averages about $3,000,000
- Saratoga: again depending on the school districts (there are several), for the best schools, approximately $3,800,000
- Cupertino: a bargain for schools, it often runs $3,400,000 to $3,500,000 (and up)
- Palo Alto: it varies with the exact location and lot size etc., but budgeting about $4,500,000 for a home with the best schools and location would be wise
What are the lower cost alternatives for good schools in Silicon Valley?
There are many other highly regarded areas or pockets. Part of this is due to the fact that the school district boundaries do not line up with the city or town limits.
(more…)
by Mary Pope-Handy | Sep 22, 2017 | Buying Tips, For Sale, Market trends & statistics, Real Estate, Rental homes
Flashback Friday!
As I was going through old blog posts, I found this brief installment from April 17th, 2014. Often I write that the current hot sellers market in the Bay is “prolonged,” “steady,” or “persistent,” but seeing these two headlines from over 3 years ago really shows just how unyielding it has been. It is highly unusual to be in such a strong, drawn-out market, but there’s no clear indicator that things will change anytime soon, either. Buyers and renters might find some relief now that autumn is here in hopes that it brings the usual seasonal cooling.
Find the original post immediately below. – Update October 22nd, 2017
Here are the headlines from the San Jose Mercury News in mid April 2014:
Rental article: Bay Area apartment rents set record 4/16/14
Excerpt: Bay Area apartment rents are rising at nearly double-digit annual rates and have reached record levels, according to a report released Tuesday, prompting some analysts to warn that the region’s economic boom could be choked off by the relentless rise….. Among the Bay Area’s three largest cities, San Jose had an average asking rent of $2,066 during this year’s January-March quarter, up 10.3 percent from the same period last year, RealFacts reported. Oakland had an average rental rate of $2,187, up 12.3 percent, while San Francisco posted an average of $3,057, up 9.5 percent.
Home buying article: Bay Area home prices jump year over year
Excerpt: March marked more than 20 consecutive months of year-over-year price gains for single-family homes in the East Bay, South Bay and Peninsula, according to real estate information service DataQuick, which released a report on March sales Wednesday…. The San Diego-based company said that prices were up 29.2 percent from the previous March in Alameda County to $575,000. In Contra Costa County, prices rose 22.8 percent to $425,000. Santa Clara County gained 20.3 percent to $800,000, and San Mateo County was up 13.2 percent to $860,000.
Whether you buy or rent, prices have been rising dramatically. When factoring in what housing will cost, include the trajectory of appreciation per month.
by Mary Pope-Handy | Feb 12, 2013 | Market trends & statistics, Santa Clara County (The South Bay)
There is most always a big shock when folks relocate to Silicon Valley and start to learn how far their money goes – or doesn’t go – here. This has been the case for a very long time, since long before I got into the business 20 years ago. Prior to to looking online, you may hear that it’s bad, but you don’t really know what people are talking about until you get into a car with a Realtor and go see what $500,000 or a million or more will buy you here.
And now, too add to the already high home prices, the real estate market is overheated due to a severe inventory shortage of homes for sale in the San Jose and “South Bay” areas, too. Most properties are selling over list price – and that was high to start with, particularly for out of state or global buyers.
In most parts of the U.S., a half a million dollars will buy you a great home. Here, not so much. A million dollars will buy you a nice home in a decent area, but it won’t be fancy, and you’re unlikely to have a large lot unless your commute is huge and you’re on the outskirts of the valley. It’s more than a million to have a really nicely remodeled home with great schools; that price point seems to start at about 1.2 million in most parts of the valley. Have a look at the median and average sales prices for houses in Santa Clara County – this will give you a sense of how the market has been behaving, but also of the cost to purchase homes generally.
Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley – San Jose area) Prices and Sales Feb 2013
(more…)
