Market Update Market Update Inflation continued to rise, with both consumer and wholesale prices experiencing increases in July, indicating that the inflation threat is far from over. Despite this ongoing macroeconomic concern, retail sales have shown resilience, bolstered by events like Amazon’s Prime Day and strong demand in certain categories. Small business optimism has also climbed back above 100 […]
Local News Saratoga Vineyard Could Become 200 Housing Units An 11-acre vineyard off Chester Ave. in Saratoga is currently being reviewed as a site for more than 200 housing units. City staff members are assessing the initial environmental impact reports before providing them to the City Council for review. The development aims to include 24 single-family homes, 85 town homes, 84 homes with tandem […]
Local News Sunnyvale Moves Forward with Electric Update Requirements The City of Sunnyvale passed a requirement that would require anyone applying for a city building, electrical or mechanical permit to also upgrade the electrical wiring and panel space to show they have the capacity for future electrification of all appliances. While this is not a strict mandate, it has the potential to require an […]
Quarterly Market Update Q2 2025 Market Update | Santa Clara & San Mateo Counties Copy Whenever we’re asked, “How’s the market?” we feel like it’s such a loaded question. We can segment the market in a myriad of different ways – by price point, geographic location, property type, school districts, home size, etc. So it really depends on what micro-market people are asking about when they pose this question, and […]
Local News Palo Alto Seeks to Spur Downtown Housing Growth Fueled by an $800,000 grant from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), an advisory committee has kicked off efforts to bring more housing growth to downtown Palo Alto. Accepting that grant alone was controversial, as two years ago, the council was split 4-3 on whether to work on downtown housing growth. However, changes to state law, […]
Local News Liccardo Legislation Finances ADUs Congressmember Sam Liccardo introduced H.R. 4479, which would create a federal financing mechanism for accessory dwelling units (ADUs). The bill, dubbed the SUPPLY Act, essentially would allow federal housing agencies to back loans for the creation or construction of ADUs. The bill has 16 co-sponsors and has bipartisan support. The Bipartisan Policy Center notes that […]
Market Update Market Update In the first half of 2025, California’s home sales remained flat compared to the previous year, despite a slight increase in June. Meanwhile, the statewide median home price fell for the second consecutive month, reflecting market uncertainty and elevated mortgage rates. For the economy, retail sales rebounded in June buoyed by consumer spending resilience. Tariff-induced […]
Local News VTA Allocates Funding for Highway 17 Relief A plan to add a third lane to Highway 17 in Los Gatos received more than $11 million in funding from the Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) in its recent budget. The goal of the project is to help relieve the bottleneck often caused by summer beachgoers on their way to Santa Cruz. Los Gatos Vice […]
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Local News Growth in Assessed Property Values Slow in 2024 Growth in assessed property value for Santa Clara County was at its lowest point since 2012 over the past year. Growth across the county was approximately 4.15%, but several cities were quite a bit lower. Mountain View’s growth was at the bottom, as the city saw only a 0.51% increase in assessed value. Morgan Hill […]
Local News Cupertino Loses Another City Manager The City of Cupertino has now parted ways with another city manager. This, unsurprisingly, comes after the anti-growth and divisive Better Cupertino coalition won a majority of City Council seats. This is the sixth change in leadership since 2018, although turnover had decreased in recent years when Better Cupertino had lost control of the board. […]
Local News Federal Legislation for First-Time Buyers Introduced Representative Maxine Waters (D-Calif.), along with Reps. Al Green (D-Texas), Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.), and Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), reintroduced the Downpayment Toward Equity Act (H.R. 4069) this week. The legislation would provide $100 billion in direct assistance to help first-time, first-generation homebuyers purchase homes. The bill provides up to $20,000 for first-generation homebuyers and up to […]
Local News Palo Alto Raises Utility Rates Again Palo Alto customers will see utility rates increase by about 10% to help pay for infrastructure needs. The average customer’s bill will increase by $30 over the next 12 months, totaling about $390 per year. City leadership stated that these infrastructure needs across multiple services are necessary to meet minimum federal regulations and maintain service […]
Local News Assessor Larry Stone Resigns Larry Stone, who has served as Assessor in Santa Clara County since 1994, announced his resignation effective July 6. Stone’s assistant, Deputy Assessor Greg Monteverde, will serve in his place until Tuesday, Aug, 12, when the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors will appoint an interim assessor. Stone has been a formidable political leader and […]
Market Update Market Update The Fed decided to keep rates unchanged at the June FOMC meeting but signaled that the central bank could cut its policy rate by 50 basis points before the end of 2025. Without a lift from rate cuts since late last year, the housing market has remained soft with sales dropping to a four-month in […]
Local News State Budget Seeks to Close $12B Deficit This month, the California Legislature approved a state budget that closes a projected $12 billion deficit. Much of the concern, however, revolves around losing federal funding. The state is contemplating withholding income tax revenue from the federal government if it deems any funding cuts unconstitutional or illegally enforced. Overall, the state budget reaches above $325 […]
Local News Atherton Considers Charter Status and Transfer Tax The Atherton City Council is considering whether to pursue charter city status. While the council says the primary motivation is not to raise revenue, members have discussed a potential funding measure based on real estate values. Since Atherton has very little commercial property, residential real estate is the most likely source of additional revenue. Most […]
Market Update Market Update Last week’s news continues to provide some mixed signals for the housing market, with the U.S. economic growth falling by 0.3% in the first quarter, homeowners insurance rates projected to rise by double-digits in 2025, and a solid labor market growing by 177k jobs in April. Construction spending, meanwhile, fell for the first time in […]
Local News Becker Bill to Limit Builder’s Remedy Dies Senator Josh Becker’s legislation, SB 457, which aimed to place certain limits on builder’s remedy projects, failed in committee recently. Senator Becker stated that the primary motivation behind the bill was the proposed project at the Sunset Magazine site in Menlo Park. This proposed project includes a 37-story building, a hotel and thousands of square […]
Local News State Bill Pushes Regional Transit Tax SB 63, spearheaded by Senator Scott Wiener of San Francisco and Senator Jesse Arreguin of Berkeley, aims to implement a regional transit tax across the Bay Area. Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) previously discussed whether to participate in a regional tax measure or pursue its own local measure. This legislation appears to lean them more towards […]
Market Update Market Update California bounced back solidly after a slow start for the year as mortgage rates declined throughout the month of February. While home sales remain soft by historical standards, the increase is a first step in the right direction. Concurrently, the Federal Reserve held interest rates steady but lowered economic growth forecasts, citing trade policy risks. […]