David Blockhus, Los Altos Realtor and Silicon Valley Real Estate Pro

The Mountain View Whisman School district receives the core of its financing based on the average daily attendance of it's students.  In short, it is a Revenue Limit funded district. 

Revenue limit income is a combination of local property taxes and state money.  As property taxes increase, they are offset by a reduction in state money.  A district that relies solely on local taxes becomes a basic aid funded school district (ie. Palo Alto Unified).  For further information, read the Guide to California's School Finance System and/or California's school finance system.

In the video below, Dr. Maurice Ghysels, the Superintendent of the Mountain View Whisman School District, discusses the district's finances, parcel taxes and foundation monies. 

The economy is soft and money is tight yet there continues to be a lot of construction occurring in Los Altos and it's surrounding communities. On my street alone, there are five homes under construction. Check out the short video below and see the demolition of one of my neighbor's home. 

It probably took a year to build, was lived in for over a half century, yet took just 75 minutes to tear down.   If you enjoy watching a large excavator smash into a wooden framed house, you'll love the video. 

Los Altos single family home sales were down in January 2009. However, given the state of home financing and consumer confidence, I expected the numbers to be even worse. Below is an 11 year history of Los Altos single family homes that have sold in the month of January.

A quick calculation shows that the eleven year average for home sales in January is 18, new listings is 35 and inventory is 52. In January 2009, we were at 7 sales, 41 new listings and 76 homes in inventory. The trend of fewer sales and more inventory continues...

The chart below shows the average and median sales prices for homes sold in Los Altos in the month of January. It appears that sales prices for homes sold in January peaked in 2008. 2009 prices are falling. I wouldn't use these numbers as gospel because the sample size for the number of sales is pretty small. However, there is a strong inferance that both average and median sales prices are falling.

The chart below shows the list price to sales price ratio of homes that have closed escrow in January 2009. A point to remember is most of the sales (closed escrows) went into contract in the prior month (December). January 2009 was the lowest list price to sales price ratio at 93.9% (for a January) in the last 11 years.

Lastly, the chart below shows the MLS data from the seven homes that closed escrow in January 2009. An interesting footnote is that the three homes that sold above the $2.4 million price point were sold at an *18%+ discount off of their original list prices. The three lowest sales were sold at an *8%+ discount off of their original list prices. So it does appear that higher priced homes are being sold for a higher percentage discount than their lower price counterparts. Could this be a good buying opportunity for a move up buyer in Los Altos? Could there be opportunities for investors to exchange into Los Altos real estate?

Why are home prices dropping? Besides the obvious, "It's the economy stupid" there are three reasons: (1) listing agents are taking listings too high (over promise and under deliver), OR (2) homeowner's want too much money for their home ("my house is the best in the neighborhood...."), OR (3) if the property is correctly priced and marketed, prices for homes in Los Altos are falling (ding, ding, ding you hit it on the head!). In reality, it is a combination of all three.

*statistics are from initial listing period through COE (includes properties listed, expired/cancelled and then re-listed again with same brokerage).

Thanks for reading and feel free to contact me for statistics on your neighborhood.

Note: all statistics/charts are taking from MLSListings, Inc. data, our local MLS provider and are deemed accurate but not guaranteed.

In part two of the Magical Mystery (bus) Tour of the Mountain View Whisman School District (MVWSD),  Dr. Maurice Ghysels, the Superintendent of the Mountain View Whisman School District, shares his thoughts about the district's core values.  It's these core values of (1) academic excellence, (2) a strong collaborative community and (3) a broad world view that make the MVWSD so successful!

Note: I took this video a few months ago (fall 2008).  The Mountain View Whisman School District was hosting a morning event designed to inform local Realtors about the benefits of the MVWSD and the Mountain View Educational Foundation (MVEF).  

 According to the MVEF web site, "the MVEF provides financial support for essential enrichment programs and educational materials district wide, for which not other funding source exists."  MVEF is a non profit charity run by parents and community volunteers in an effort to raise money for the Arts, Science, Physical Education and other programs that don't receive funding.  Their revised goal for 2008-2009 is $300,000 or approximately $360. per student.  Please see their website for further information and/or to donate.

The Multiple Listing Service is the most reliable source of local real estate market information. The following information was take from our local MLS provider (ProMLSlistings.com) and is deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

There are currently are 91 single family homes for sale in Mountain View. Of these, 14 are under contract. Therefore, 77 homes don't have buyers. At the current rate of absorption, we have over 6 months of inventory.

Below is the annual listing and sales activity for single family homes in Mountain View for each year since 1998.

As one can tell, sales numbers are down substantially from the 11 year average of 340 by 105 homes or 30%. The number of homes listed is also down but not as drastically. They are down slightly from the 11 year average (452) by 35 homes or 8%.

According to the chart below, Mountain View home prices are also starting to recede.

In 2007, the average sales price for a home in Mountain View was almost slightly over $1,085,000. In 2008 that number dropped just slightly to $1,067,000.

Due to a lack of available financing (in the higher price points), a poor overall economy and low consumer confidence, the higher end has stalled somewhat. What once drove the market is now a burden on it. How long will the local real estate market be challenged is unknown, but the economics of our market today could create opportunities for someone interested in moving up (assuming one can get financing).

As always I would be happy to provide information/statistics for your neighborhood.