Los Altos Real Estate Trends

Posted on May 30, 2009 by David Casas 
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Los Altos has traditionally been a good long-term investment. In terms of trends, the beginning of the 2009 had little activity in home sales compared to the same time last year. The lack of meaningful activity was not attributable to the seasonal winter lull. It was a confluence of events which culminated in a state of shock. Essentially, the housing market was in a deep freeze. As winter morphed into spring, activity clearly increased. However, housing transactions for the first 5 months continue to lag behind 2008.
img_08951Currently, with increasing availability of credit, buyers have begun to seek out viable home options. It appears that a clear segment of Los Altos home shoppers are now actively engaged in the hunt for housing. Sellers, who have priced their properties for the current market, are attracting these buyers. In some cases, sellers are again seeing multiple offers. Just last week, one property received 12 offers.

While home prices have modestly drifted downwards, Los Altos continues to draw qualified buyers looking for a good buy in a great community. More importantly, Los Altos continues to hold its own compared to the significant price declines we have seen in other nearby cities. This strength can be directly tied to the value of our local schools, the quality of life of our residents, and the financial stability of the City itself.

Clearly, housing choices abound in Los Altos. As a buyer, you can select from a wide variety of available properties. As a renter, a diverse selection of apartments, condos, townhouses and single family homes become available, from time to time. At the end of the day, while there are a number of homes to buy, the local rental market remains tight. [Note: We'll explore two new developments in a future post.]

Going forward, we anticipate Los Altos home prices will stabilize by September. This is a good thing, as pricing expectations achieve equilibrium. Separately, we see the Federal Government’s recent involvement in the capital markets and the manipulation of interest rates will have negative consequences by the end of 2010. Inflation is expected to return, interest rates will rise and mortgage costs will increase. If you are in a position to do so, we recommend locking in today’s historically low rates.

As I mentioned, Los Altos home has historically been a good long-term investment. As a community, this has also been a great place to raise a family. Now is the time to buy, or sell, in Los Altos. Let us help you successfully navigate the changing real estate landscape.

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