Marcy Moyer

Single family homes:

Active listings: 136

Pending Sales: 53

Closed in last 7 days: 1

Condo/Town homes

Active Listings: 81

Pending Sales: 21

Closed in last week: 0

What does this mean? The market has a lot of inventory, so plenty of choices for buyers. However, the ratio of pending sales to active listings is not too bad, 1 to 4 for condos, and less than 1 to 3 for single family homes. These numbers are better than the ratios in Palo Alto. It is a very good example of how the lower end of the market is more active than the upper end, as jumbo loans are harder to get and a lot more expensive than conforming loans.

If you have any questions about the Sunnyvale market please feel free to contact me. I have lot's of experience and interest in this wonderful city.

Marcy Moyer Keller Williams Realty

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

www.marcymoyer.com

As of Dec 8, 2008 the Mountain View market looked like this:

Single family homes:

71 homes for sale

12 pending sales

4 closed sales in the previous week

Condo/Town homes

70 for sale

20 pending sales

2 closed sales in the previous week

What does this mean?

First of all there are a lot of homes for sale in Mountain View, which traditionally has more condo/town homes for sale at any given time because there are a lot more of those than single family homes. 70 is not a huge number for condos, but it is for single family homes. The ration of single family homes for sale to pending sales also shows a lot of softness in the market. For condos, the ratio is better. I would attribute this to the fact the less expensive condos are easier to sell because money is easy and cheaper to get for these sales.

I am an expert on the Mountain View market, so if have any real estate questions or needs, please feel free to contact me.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

www.marcymoyer.com

As of Dec. 8, 2008 there are 85 single family homes for sale in Palo Alto. 19 homes are under contract for sale, and 3 homes sold in the last week, one of which sold above asking price.

There are 30 condos and town homes for sale, 4 are under contract for sale, and 2 sold in the last week, neither of which sold over asking price.

What does this mean? Sales are still pretty slow in Palo Alto, but the inventory is not excessive, so there is not a lot of homes from which to choose and prices are not plummeting.

If you have any questions about real estate in Palo Alto please feel free to contact me. I am here to help.

Marcy Moyer

marcy@marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285

www.marcymoyer.com

All California homeowners need to remember to mail their property taxes by Wed. or they will have to pay a 10% penalty. If you do not know how much you owe you can go to the web site for your county and look it up.

I sent this reminder to my mailing list and several people wrote back thanking me because they had forgotten they need to pay.

Be a good citizen and remind your contacts, they will appreciate it!

All over America active baby boomers in their fifties and older are choosing to live in processed worlds, complete with (fake) historical landmarks and absolutely NO young people. We're all aware of places like Sun City, where seniors can enjoy their retirement without the constant influence of youth culture. There are definitely attractions to this kind of lifestyle. Five million golf courses, golden oldies pumping from hidden speakers, and lowered taxes in child-free zones are among the benefits. But the effects retirement communities have on surrounding areas aren't so rosy.

I read Age discrimination in housing market picks up steam in reverse gear in the Mercury News a few months ago. The author, Andrew D. Blechman, wrote a book called "Leisureville: Adventure in America's Retirement Utopias" which I'll definitely be checking out. The article is a fascinating look at the repercussions of Sun Cities and Youngtowns across the country. I hadn't realized the numbers of Americans residing in these communities were reaching such epic heights---

"According to conservative industry estimates, more than 12 million Americans in the next decade or so will live in communities that forbid young families. This represents a drastic overhaul in our societal living arrangements."

I'll say. The language running through this piece is the weirdest part--forbids, age-segregated, discrimination, human contraband. This is a touchy issue for a lot of reasons--and especially for real estate developers, since retirement utopias are a market niche that remains largely profitable. These communities are cropping up everywhere, but the majority are still "Sunbelt leisure plantations" in Florida and other friendly climates.

Such developments provide older Americans with the built-in community they're craving--admittedly that's the attraction that appeals to me the most. But at what cost?

"Although secession may be a pleasant experience for some, it comes at a steep price for society. Age segregation only reinforces negative stereotypes, leads to a willful forgetting of commonalities and encourages our less charitable instincts."

Some of these communities have desegregated and now allow younger families within the perimeters or at least do not fine them during visits or extended stays. Even so, it's difficult for some to understand why age discrimination is legal and why it's protected by the federal Fair Housing Act. What is an interesting wrinkle is that according to a recent Wall Street Journal Article some of the segragated retirement communities are now having trouble filling their homes and are thinking about letting younger people and their families move in in order to help pay the bills associated with keeping up these resort like complexes. The Villages in Evergreen in San Jose have not desegragated and they are out largest retirement community on this side of the bay. It should be interesting to see what happens there.

If you have any questions about retirement communities in San Mateo or Santa Clara counties please feel free to contact me. I am here to help.

marcy@marcymoyer.com

www.marcymoyer.com

650-619-9285