Local News Sunnyvale Seeks City Charter Changes The Sunnyvale City Council has voted to place three proposed charter amendments before voters this November. The measures would modify how the city fills council vacancies, expand the use of design-build contracting for certain public works projects, and remove a fixed dollar limit on the city manager’s settlement authority so it can instead be established […]
Local News Menlo Sued Over Exorbitant Fee Menlo Park was recently sued by a Palo Alto developer over a $127,000 fee to split one property. The developer purchased 12 Maywood Lane in 2024 with a single-family home on it and subsequently split it into two parcels under the requirements of SB 9. However, Menlo Park requires a recreation in-lieu fee, which in […]
Local News Palo Alto Sees Up to Seven Projects Before Housing Regulations Take Effect SB 79, which sets into place certain upzoning standards near transit stations, is causing a minor flood of applications in Palo Alto. The City Council recently adopted ordinances to restrict the legislation, which it was legally permitted to do, but those do not take effect until 30 days after approval. In the meantime, seven projects […]
Local News Palo Alto Spurns Emergency Declaration to Limit Building Height Councilmember Pat Burt proposed an emergency declaration to limit height allowances under SB 79 near Caltrain stations. Palo Alto has already approved certain restrictions based on historical status and other exemptions SB 79 provides for, but those do not take effect for 30 days. An emergency declaration is the only way to do it on […]
Local News Mountain View Makes Up Deficit with Vacancies The City of Mountain View is looking to pass its 2026-2027 budget with an expected shortfall of about $10 million. However, it plans to offset this by leaving certain vacancies unfilled. Overall projected revenues for the fiscal year are expected to grow by almost $12 million, but expenditures are increasing even faster. Mountain View also […]
Local News Palo Alto Approves Townhouses At 2100 Geng Road, east of Highway 101 in Palo Alto, 165 townhouses are slated for development through the Builder’s Remedy. The homes would be in approximately 65 three-level buildings and include surface parking. The property’s prior uses included four separate office buildings. In approving the project, Palo Alto council members listed various concerns about […]
Local News Mountain View Approves Townhomes 515 N. Whisman will soon be the site of a 195-unit townhome community in Mountain View. Council members voted 6-0 to approve the project, with 50 of the units being reserved for below-market-rate housing (BMR). The former site consisted of two large office buildings and surface parking lots. In approving the project, some council members […]
Local News Long-Running Housing Dispute Goes to Court in Los Altos Hills In Los Altos Hills, the Twin Oaks development has long been a controversial topic. Los Altos Hills has always tried hard to keep out housing development projects, particularly with its history of one-acre requirements and only allowing single-family housing. However, the city recently allowed multifamily units on the site to work toward meeting its regional […]
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Local News Santa Clara County Homeless Counts Jump The 2025 annual point-in-time homeless count had bleak news for Santa Clara County. The number of individuals who have been homeless for more than one year jumped by 21% to 4,650 individuals. Overall, the county homeless population count was at 10,711, an increase of more than 8% from two years ago. Over the past decade, […]
Local News Palo Alto Struggles to Plan for South San Antonio Growth The South San Antonio area is slated for up to 2,000 new housing units in the next eight years under the City of Palo Alto’s housing plan. However, city infrastructure and particularly poor traffic management are complicating these plans. At a recent Planning and Transportation Commission meeting, commissioners agreed they would need to work closely […]
Local News Sunnyvale Still Considering Tax Measures The Sunnyvale City Council debated ideas to raise revenue this week despite not being able to nail down specific revenue goals. It was shared that $100 million was needed to replace city traffic lights, $450 million for grade separations, and unspecified amounts for fire station, library and public works upgrades. Additionally, city staff noted that […]
Local News Cupertino Rebuffs State on Permit Streamlining Act Cupertino has once again been put on notice that it is in violation of state housing laws. In this case, it involves the Permit Streamlining Act, which is intended to offer clarity and transparency when submitting development proposals. At the crux of the issue is that Cupertino is rejecting applications that it deems incomplete 90 […]
Market Update Market Update The latest economic indicators continue to suggest a general slowdown in the economy, with unemployment claims falling slightly, but consumers, nevertheless, remain concerned over the labor market and their income growth. On this Labor Day holiday when we pay tribute to the contributions and achievement of American workers, these trends underscore the ongoing challenges and […]
Local News Apple Embarks on Buying Spree While “spree” may be a relative term, Apple recently purchased two commercial campuses in Silicon Valley. This move departs from the trend of most tech companies scaling back their planned footprint since the pandemic. Apple Real Estate Executives commented that they’ve “been here for more than 40 years, and we’re proud to continue investing in […]
Local News Santa Clara County Sued Over Sales Tax In placing the recent five-eighths of a cent sales tax on the ballot, Santa Clara County supervisors evoked an emergency declaration that allowed them to circumvent certain noticing requirements. If an emergency had not been declared, the tax would have had to be on a regular ballot, such as the November 2026 ballot, instead of […]
Market Update Market Update In July, the U.S. housing market showed signs of weakness as California home sales and prices softened further. Pending sales also fell sharply, while inventory climbed to their highest level in nearly six years, as high mortgage rates and economic uncertainty continued to linger on. Nationally, housing starts surprised to the upside but permits continued […]
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 […]