Los Altos & Palo Alto Real Estate Insight

Welcome

Whether you are a first time buyer or seller, or have been through multiple transactions, you might be surprised by how quickly the real estate market changes in Los Altos, Palo Alto and surrounding communities. You need hard-hitting historical data, current market analysis, and insider experience to stay informed and succeed in these real estate markets.

As a service to their clients, Jeff Stricker and Steve TenBroeck of Alain Pinel Realtors provide regular market analysis and commentary. You are invited to read the entries below, add your comments, ask questions or contact them directly.

Bucking the Trend-National Home Values Down, but Los Altos is Up

As reported in Realty Times, Zillow recently released data  showing a year-over-year decrease in national home values of 5%. While the information may be valid for national trends, it isn’t helpful for home owners and buyers. Suggesting that a single, national home value number has any relevance to what is going on in any local real estate market is just silly. In fact, if you look closer at Zillow’s data for Los Altos the town is up 3% over last year.  All meaningful real estate statistics need to be segmented as locally as possible.

We invite you to check out our market trends page for accurate local information for Los Altos, Palo Alto, Los Altos Hills, Menlo Park and surrounding areas.

Topics: Commentary      Comments Off

Rosy Tech Forecast Helping Home Sales

Did you catch the article — Tech health gauge at highest point since 2001 bust –  in the Business section of the SF Chronicle  on Friday, December 10?

The San Francisco Federal Reserve Bank’s measurement of the technology industry’s health is up 15% this year to the highest level since 2001!  This is one of several reasons why home prices in Palo Alto and surrounding cities are doing so well. Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: Commentary      Comments Off

November Market Snapshot

Home sales data for Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills and Menlo Park have recently become available from MLSlistings.com.  Here’s a look at data for November from the last 10 years and our commentary about what it means to you.  If you would like information about another city or neighborhood, we’d be happy to provide it to you.

---

CHART OVERVIEW:

The charts below show the median sales prices in November, ’01 through ’10, plus the number of home sales each November, and the number of homes on the market on Nov 30th for Palo Alto, Los Altos, Menlo Park and Los Altos Hills. At the bottom of the charts, you will see the “months of inventory” (number of homes for sale divided by the number of sales), plus the average percentage of list price received by sellers during November of each year. Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: Market Trends, Monthly Snapshots      Comments Off

Slowest Month in Home Sales . . . Not True for Los Altos

On Friday, Real Estate headlines in the area trumpeted the decrease year over year in closed sales for the month of October.  The San Jose Mercury News feature article quotes MDA DataQuick President John Walsh as saying the decrease indicates a “hangover from expired home buyer tax credits, which spurred many to buy in the first half of the year.” That’s not exactly accurate in our view.  You’ve got to look back at what was going on in the market in 2009.   Sales were very slow in the first half of 2009 and continued through the summer.  But by early fall, those who had delayed selling or buying, were coming back into the market.  So, sales in October 2009 were up.   As compared, Santa Clara home sales in October 2010 looked “off” but were right in line with county sales for October 2008.

Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: Market Trends      Comments Off

Robust Fall Market in Los Altos, Palo Alto and Surrounding Towns

The election results are in and so are the Q3 2010 Single Family Home Sales stats. Take a look at the charts below for the communities of the South and Mid-San Francisco Peninsula. All indicators are up: closed sales, inventory, new listings and sales price. Days-on-market is down which means that the best properties are moving fast.  Read the rest of this entry »

Topics: Quarterly Updates      Comments Off