First time home-buyer questions

vballmom
Sat, 04 Feb 2012 14:43:25 +0000

I’ve been watching the Mountain View real estate market for the past 3 years, mainly single family homes but have checked out condos as well. The market for single family homes has always been strong because there’s so little inventory available. Mountain View is incredibly hot right now with houses being snapped up within days of going on the market, with multiple offers. The condo market isn’t nearly as hot - there’s quite a bit of inventory. However, for both markets you don’t get nearly as much for your money as other areas slightly farther from Palo Alto. Sunnyvale is more reasonable, as is Cupertino and Santa Clara. These towns aren’t as appealing to young people, naturally, but if my son were to consider buying a condo when he graduates then I’d steer him to those cities to start with.

Given the mobility of workers just out of college, I agree that it would be better to continue renting for a few more years. Yes he might miss out on some appreciation in value, but given that the condo market is much weaker than the market for single family homes, his opportunity cost is less than if he had the money to buy a house.