If San Mateo schools were anywhere as good as SouthBay/Fremont. Median prices will be much closer to $5m with bigger lots closer to $10m.
Burlingame has better schools that give you some idea about prices but San Mateo has much wider roads ,views and infrastructure better.
1400sq feet sold for $2.3M with schools worse than Sunnyvale.
https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Mateo/32-11th-Ave-94401/home/1504524
Similar 1400 sq ft 3/2 houses are going for just a bit higher in Sunnyvale ($2.5M), but as you pointed out, this part of Sunnyvale has much better schools than San Mateo
There is a street called Mansion Row (Elites of SF bayarea lived there in past 200 years) in San Mateo/Hillsbrough. I cannot remember its exact name now but i used to drive around there a decade ago and it was already 2 to 3 times more expensive than rest of San Mateo.
it started from West side of El Camino downtown San Mateo all the way to Hillsborough.
I put picture just for illustration. The Mansion Row houses supposed to be completely hidden inside the trees and away from road. and no car parks on side of road.
Millbrae `1900sq foot sold for $2.2m with 9000sqft lot. renovated 2020. Millbrae prices not rising compared rest of high end market.
https://www.redfin.com/CA/Millbrae/815-Larkspur-Dr-94030/home/1228291
San Mateo Park is the expensive area of San Mateo. Price/sf can exceed Hillsborough and Burlingame. Most of San Mateo consists of cheaply built post WW2 tract houses. Shore view houses are under 1300sf flat tops built in the early 50s on spongey bay mud. Cost $5k now selling for over $1m for flat leakey roof houses with major settlement issues.
Even for Los Altos, the sale price on this house seems excessive to me: $4.7M for a 1900 sq ft house. Lot is 13k sq ft
$4.7M is too high for essentially living on this street. i used to walk on up and down hills of San Mateo with treelines and practically no vehicles.
98% of those are construction/maintenance vehicles. Turn around the view and you will see 2 cars on the road only one is not construction/maintenance related. Look further down the direction you are looking and you will see the home being constructed on the left. You can see it in your picture, the green screening fence.
You mentioned avoiding the poor soils by heading towards the hills. Are the RBA neighborhoods on good soil? Old PA? Crescent Park? Maybe they are decent since there are a lot of old properties still standing.
Someone (maybe you) mentioned Mt. Carmel being on poor soil.
I have driven alot on thoses streets. That community is designed as such in most areas to make sure Construction/Maintainance/home tutor/Nanny/Gardner/house slave vehicles cannot see.
it was way isolated living before.
These are houses in lower Hillsborough, not San Mateo. Prices are typically higher than those in Los Altos, often much higher. Lots are 0.5-1 acre, some are more than one acre, so cars do not need to park on the street.
This is san mateo still no car on street view.
All these roads start from El Camino.
https://www.redfin.com/CA/San-Mateo/302-Costa-Rica-Ave-94402/home/695901
That is a list price and it has been stagnating on the market for over a month. Overly optimistic seller. It is likely to sell below list price, which is like scoring a self-goal in this market
Small Mountain View houses continue to sell at eye popping prices
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High home prices are also driving more people to rent single-family homes. They simply can’t afford to buy.
So far, my PM has increased rents by 15-20% upon renewal, all renewed. However, price are rising at 60-80% y/o/y and property taxes (don’t know yet but appraisal has increased 20-30%). My PM said he is likely to increase again by a significant amount upon next renewal (next year)… I am thinking can renters afford it? They don’t get pay increase of 15-20% p.a. Do they?
Yield of my Austin rentals has dropped from 8-12% to 4-5%, at this rate, would drop to SJ rate of 2-3%. Estimated annual cashflow stable… property tax won’t be known until last quarter of the year.
One can list a 3 Million home for 500k. It will sell for 2.5 Million above asking price.
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This confirms my suspicion that West Bay is where the bargains are. People have bid up East Bay prices far too high, and my theory is still that people will still find a need to commute back to office, albeit at a reduced frequency. So all the blue chip towns like PA and MV, better go buy there now especially in the slower months ahead.
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How do people afford to buy in the blue chip towns of RBA where the entry point in $2.5-3M or higher?