The Sunnyvale real estate market, a significant portion of the Silicon Valley and Bay Area housing markets, saw mixed signals in the most recent tracking periods. The median price of a Sunnyvale home for sale increased substantially in the month of July, although home sales dipped somewhat. According to an August 11, 2010 report from the Mercury News, "The Bay Area's two biggest metro areas had two of the nation's three biggest housing price gains in the second quarter, the National Association of Realtors reported today. The median house price in the beautiful San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara metro area jumped 26 percent year over year to $630,000. In the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont area, the median price climbed 25 percent to $591,200. (Only Akron, Ohio, oddly enough, had a bigger gain, at 36 percent.) Of course, prices in both the San Jose and San Francisco metro areas are still down sharply from the peak of the market. In 2007, for example, the median house price was $836,800 in the San Jose area (Santa Clara and San Benito counties) and $804,800 in the San Francisco area (which includes San Francisco, its relatively expensive suburbs in Marin and San Mateo counties, and more affordable -- at least by Bay Area standards -- communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties)."

 

The Sunnyvale housing market has faced something of a downturn recently, mostly as a result of the expiring federal housing tax credit. However, local experts were less concerned about the effects of the expiration in the Silicon Valley area. According to an August 9, 2010 report also from the Mercury News, "Yun expects mortgage interests to remain historically low for the rest of the year with "very modest growth" in employment. He described the lull in sales as an expected "pausing situation," and noted job creation is essential to boosting consumer confidence and home sales...Jeff Bell, president of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, stressed market conditions vary, depending on location. "We expected the sales pace to slow with the end of the federal homebuyer tax credit, but so far, the local picture appears healthy," Bell said. Bell indicated sales on the high-end market have picked up with lower mortgage interest rates and the loosening of the jumbo market...Bell also stressed job creation is key to a sustainable housing recovery."