Ivanna C. Sukkar
As published in Scotsman Guide's Residential Edition, August 2007.
Technology has advanced and benefited society -- obviously. But it also has helped strengthen and stabilize Silicon Valley's housing market.
The high-tech hub, which primarily comprises Santa Clara County, Calif., cities, has one of the highest median household incomes in the country. Housing prices also are among the highest; in fact, Forbes ranked it the 10th most overpriced market in the country this year.
But even as it follows the nationwide trend of slowing home sales, the area's housing market remains strong, and home prices are seeing yearly increases.
In fact, the tech center's economy, job sector and high incomes have helped stabilize the area's housing market for several years -- even through the 2000 dot-com-bubble crash, according to a study by University of California, Berkeley, professor John M. Quigley.
Still, a recent Silicon Valley Leadership Group survey found that area CEOs ranked the region's housing costs among their top-five business challenges and among their top-three cost-of-living challenges. In fact, valley residents spend an average of 62.4 percent of their income on housing costs -- well above the national average of 27 percent.
VITALS
↑ Population: 1.73 million
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Population in 2000: 1.68 million
↓ Average commute: 23.6 minutes
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Average commute in 2000: 26.1 minutes
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U.S: 25.1 minutes
↑ Median household income: $76,810
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Median household income in 2000: $74,335
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U.S.: $46,242
↑ Median age: 36.2 years
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Median age in 2000: 34 years
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U.S.: 36.4 years
↑ Inflation (Consumer Price Index for Bay Area, April 2007): 3.3 percent
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Inflation in Bay Area, April 2006: 3.2 percent
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U.S.: 2.6 percent
↓ Unemployment (metropolitan statistical area): 4.4 percent
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Unemployment in MSA, April 2006: 4.5 percent
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U.S.: 4.5 percent
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