June 15, 2007

Palo Alto: The Google Effect

Google guys “at work.”

Week ending: 6-08-2007

This quartile view* of the Palo Alto housing market provides some insights into the market dynamics in the high, upper-middle, lower-middle, and least expensive segments.

If you look at the Days-on-Market (DoM) column to the far right, it’s not surprising to learn the fastest-selling quartile is at the low end of the market, where young professionals and families are trying to enter the market.

What surprised me was that the second hottest quartile is at high end of the market, where the median listing price is $3,398,000. The Palo Alto realtors call it “the Google Effect,” as newly minted millionaires sitting on piles of IPO (initial private offering) stock swoop in and purchase the most desirable homes with cash.

*This data was brought to you by Altos Research, another cool Silicon Valley start-up changing the way we shop for houses.