A blog posted this week on Palo Alto Patch suggests that the city's housing woes are over and that the real estate market in Stanford's back yard is fully recovered.
It also informs readers that the median price of a single family home in Palo Alto topped $2 million in April.
As Sheldon might say on The Big Bang Theory: "Bazinga!"
The author of the Patch blog is local Palo Alto realtor Michael Talis.
To support the MLS data, Talis points out that homes are now selling faster than at any time since March 2005, just shortly before everything went into the dumper. In fact, homes are now on the market an average of 14 days before they have a committed buyer.
Is it the Facebook phenomenon? Are those who are about to become fabulously wealthy making the search for a new home incredibly difficult for the rest of us? And is it just Palo Alto? Or has the market throughout San Mateo County become nothing but a broken American Dream?
Foreign investors - particularly Chinese - continue to flood the area with cash offers on pricey homes. Startup companies are selling for large sums of money, creating more and more independently-wealthy local residents.
Where does it all end? Is there (home) life left for the 99 percent? Can agencies attempting to create affordable housing succeed in this climate? Are we heading for a lifetime of landlords and slumlords? Or is what we're witnessing simply good economics, supply and demand? A testimony to those who work hard to succeed.
Tell us your feelings in the comments. And vote in the poll we've included below.
The San Francisco problems you've pointed out are real and significant - homelessness, urine odors, municipal debt, poor street surfaces, unaffordable housing, poor quality of education, and crime. But those aren't caused by tall buildings - it's much more complex than that. There are many cities all over the world that have both tall buildings and excellent street surfaces, for example. Other cities have both tall buildings are very little homelessness. And so on. Menlo Park can be developed in such a way to minimize those problems - if we work together to implement good policies - and yes, even with skypscapers.
AB32 doesn't mean "no cars". The Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 establishes a comprehensive program to reduce California's greenhouse gas emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. There are many cost-effective ways to do that - many of which also benefit local businesses - such as those that manufacture solar panels or develop products for energy-efficient buildings. There isn't any provision of AB32 to prohibit cars - or even reduce the number of cars. Vehicles can be made more fuel efficient through a number of technologies that are currently being developed - some by California companies (such as Tesla Motors) in response to AB32. These technologies can be sold or licensed to auto manufacturers worldwide. AB32 is good the environment, and good for business.
MTC Chair Adrienne J. Tissier said, “We are especially pleased that when our transportation investment strategy and preferred land use scenario are combined together, we are able to fully achieve the greenhouse gas reduction and housing targets required by law.” MTC is the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area’s transportation planning, coordinating and financing agency. ABAG is the council of governments and regional planning agency for the nine counties and 101 cities and towns of the San Francisco Bay region. Dear Menlo Park; Doesn't sound like you have much local control left. Won't it be wonderful.
If GHG from cars are the problem then work on cars. KISS. Rather than making people live where YOU think they should live. Building 5 story Apts. in Menlo Park has already raised some objection right here in the Patch. In Europe by haveing less stringent and its only small percentage less GHG on cars you get 60 mpg at the drop of a hat. What's your "definition" of climate change. Mine is about 3 to 4 hours when the fog comes in. "The climate has changed" Whats yours? 3 to 4 Millinium 3 to 4 weeks 3 to 4 years Whats his? Whats Martha's?.. Why haven't the weathermen on TV given us rain totals for this year and your snow totals that you mentioned. Its so you and others can blame GHG. The reason farmers don't have water is because CONGRESS has been deniying it. Based on your "Climate Change" Oh! by the way don't forget to use California native plants in your landscaping to save water. But don't let the Sierria club find out they will arrest you if you use the wrong plant "This is the worst Fire season ever" for the last 35 years..... Won't it be wonderful...
Do you honestly think its fair to do otherwise. You know it was you who signed that student loan. Its your handwrighting not mine, not the guy next door. YOUR the one on the hook. Took me 52 years to get off the mortgage and credit hook. Welcome to the "Real World". P.S. I need a gardner starting wage is $8 an hour. Lunch not included. After 3 months if work is good theres a wage increase to $8.25.
Most Big 4 accountants start at about 50k a year with a BS in Accounting. Their hourly would plunge them almost to minimum wage because they're on salary. Why are apprentice wages on par with a salaried professional? It's a clear reflection of the SKEWED cost of living in the Bay Area. Good luck getting a gardner for $8. That's unsustibable for the cost of living in SF or San Mateo County. You're totally out of touch with the economic reality facing the Bay Area man.
The problem, which Catherine refers to, is the ripple effect. This area has turned into one of the haves and the have nots. I grew up in this area, I would like to be able to buy a home in this area, I make a good salary, but can I afford a $700 home and the property taxes that go with it? NO. I just don't see it ever happening. So, I rent and I deal with all the insecurities and market/rent fluctuations that come with it. And as a person in their 40s and supporting a family, it's a bitter pill to swallow.
P.S. If I don't find a gardner I can: A. Do the work myself. B. Raise the starting wage. C. Not have a gardner. D. Complain about it.
Perhaps this new One Bay Area will make more Apts. Available and you won't need a car anymore will help.. "They" have it all planed out. Go to you-tube and listen to Pete Seigers song "Little Boxes" he wrote it in the Sixties...
Consider the investment and cost towards college, and then 400+ hours of study toward the CPA plus $1,000 in testing fees and around $3,000 for a review course. A public accountant with a CPA in the Bay Area will probably be pulling in 65,000 had they made all the right moves and got in a firm at age 22, and then completed their CPA by the end of year 2. That's 6 years from 18, possibly saddled with 30k in student debt had they not been able to afford college straightaway (assuming you finish in 4, you probably had help or loans). I took the community college route to save money, but sacrifice time. If a kid happens to get in a union right off the bat like the SJ IBEW, you'll be paid $24/hr during your apprenticeship. You'll get $6 raises every 6 months until you get journey wages of $58/hr. Even if the kid is working only 50% of the year full-time, he's still making more in overall compensation than the kid who probably went to school full-time including summer as an accountant. That's just one part of my point Buck.
Buck if your monthly salary was $814 in either 1959 or $814 in the 1960s you already made DOUBLE the average salary in America so don't give people this crap. You made GOOD money. Wheras HOUSING and COST OF LIVING has increase in the Bay Area, the commensurate salary for the LOW and MIDDLE class HAS NOT. Software Engineers making 100k in Silicon Valley is the NORM, NOWHERE ELSE but in Silicon Valley. Only THESE kinds of folks can afford to live here!
Can I assume the point you are trying to make is. My generation had it easy and yours didn't. We all have a tuff time at life. It just shows up with a different face on it. As you go through life, make this your goal. Keep your mind upon the doughnut, and not apon the hole. "Author unknown"
That might explain your lack of empathy. I'd love to spend 40-50% of my take home pay on a housing. The fact is that most people in the Bay Area can't afford it Buck. They don't pay typical workers enough!!!!! A two income home in the Bay Area making 100,000 a year might be taking in $3,000 a month in post tax. You take away half of that, it's $1,500. Try making car payments, paying property tax, feeding a family of more than two individuals, and oh..... saving towards retirement on that income. It simply can't be done short of denying yourself any pleasure in life for 30 years. If you're gonna tell me "wake up to reality" one more time, I'm going to simply say that this is the REASON.... the middle class is FLEEING california. This is the REASON business is fleeing CALIFORNIA and moving to other states. OUR ECONOMY IS UNSUSTAINABLE WITH A $16 BILLION DEFICIT OVER OUR HEADS. Do you think a reduction in tax receipts has something to do with that??? You better believe it! People are LEAVING the state en masse!!! GET A CLUE!
There are a hundreds of subsidies available to your two person 100 K example. The PP 20% added to you PG&E bill is available to them for starters. Theres alot more, to many to list that come from the government. Part of that $16 bilion we share. What do you do? What do you do? Stop there help or pay the $16 billion? Maybe we could help ourselves and save some money. Then we wouldn't have to move, flee , or work so hard? Your points are well taken. I disagree on some agree on others. I'd say lets have a beer and a good cigar and continue to solve the worlds problems. But Mr. Armstrong and Prop. 29 will end that. I'm sure that Beer will be next. Even though we all know its been tried before. In my man cave the gang wagers on what is next. White sugar, then Sweetners, then Corn Syrup. Want to try and guess whats next. Just musing here... You gotta love the Legislative Analyist's opinum on Prop. 29 I'm paraphrasing here. Money saved on stopping cancer from smoking. Will still cost more because they will now live longer and cost more in the long run. Won't it be wonderful... I
I did "stand in line" for a variety of trades jobs even with a college degree. I actually have an apprenticeship interview coming up very soon, and if I get an offer I might just switch careers despite being an accountant. Buck, I work in tax. You're sorely mistaken about any "subsidies" available for a two family $100,000 income earner. I challenge you to name 5 federal tax breaks a married filing joint couple with an annual income of $100,000 gets. The "poor" get the bulk of all tax breaks given in the form of EIC and CTC. Buck, millions of Californians pay taxes. We've have some of the highest taxes in general in the union. We have the second highest sales tax, and that idiot Moonbeam in Sacramento wants to increase it because we're not hitting "revenue" to cover the $16 billion deficit. It's absurd. My point Buck is the so-called "middle class" is getting the hardest squeeze.Truthfully to be "middle class" in the Bay Area is starting to become a $100,000/person salary affair. You got homes averaging a million dollars here, but wages not reaching that. I believe the Bay Area average is around $45,000? I think Texas is like $35,000? You could probably get by "sweating it out" like you're suggesting in Texas on a $100,000 home on $35,000 in Houston. Ain't happening in San Mateo though if you're making $45,000.
If they raise the cigarette tax obscenely, you're gonna have compliance problems over time. New York City Department of Finance and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance has their own special "cigarette tax" bureau to enforce the higher cigarette tax rates. There's liquor stores and bodegas in NYC that offer cigarette rolling machines where you pay the guy a small fee, and he'll roll a cigarette from loose leaf tobacco for you with the machine (thus avoiding cigarette tax). They also smuggle non-duty paid cigarettes across the Canadian border. So if people are really going to go through those lengths to get cigarettes, I don't think something as lame as Prop 29 is going to do a damn thing. Quit demonizing smokers. Their overall health cost to society is MUCH lower than fast food and obesity.
but seriously, dozens of houses have been bought up by overseas investors and they plunk their kids in the school district. some of those investors also lease/sub-lease their houses and pour more kids in the district. lot of those folks living out there are just kids or satellite wives
Doug; I agree I was comming up from the bottom. Theres that 100% of poor thing at 32K and the more peopleyou have in the household the more poor allowance you get. So a family of 5 can make 100k or something like that and still qualify for monitory help and what I call subsidies. They ask to be paid in cash, don't report it and stay below the poverty line. Collecting benifits, low income housing, discounts of PG&E. That sort of thing. Makes me upset.
A household of 5 on that income is broke too, so they would likely qualify for EBT (food stamps) and section 8 housing. They're not pulling in 100k at all, but I understand what you're saying because I know families like this. They do cash jobs and misreport their income. I see it all the time. It's a bizarre artificial poverty. They won't get off the dole because they think they're coming out ahead, but they can't make a large capital purchase like a house making a ton of money in cash.
The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their President. That should get the dialog going again! Pow! Zip! Pop! Bang! A whot !