04/01/2025
This article is on point. As always, the primo of locations for families who can afford it are Palo Alto, Los Altos, and Menlo Park. Those cities not only have great schools, beautiful streets, close proximity to Stanford University, vibrant downtown areas with good restaurants, etc., but they also have a neighborhood feel. As always the case in real estate, LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION. That never changes.
What does change though and can affect real estate prices is the volatility of the stock market. These cities and the Mid-Peninsula in general (especially Los Altos and south) is very tech heavy, so the buyer pool is directly related to the stock prices of the major tech companies (Google, Apple, Meta, Nvidia, Amazon, etc.) where most of them work. Many (especially in Menlo Park) also work in venture capital or finance or real estate or smaller tech companies, or have sold businesses, which all are related to tech in some way.
Interest rates do not much affect the buyers of the higher priced properties since they are paying with mostly all cash. It's the stock market and prices of tech stocks which have an effect. Having said that, as the stock market becomes increasingly volatile, many buyers with cash view real estate as a very real and solid asset (which they can also live in and enjoy) and much safer investment!
It’s common to see an early springtime surge in real estate activity along the Midpeninsula, but this year’s market frenzy is operating on a different level.
