Atherton Now Most Expensive City In USA

Yes, it was only a matter of time, but it finally happened.  Forbes declared Atherton’s 94027 as the most expensive zip code in the country. For those of us who live here, we knew this was coming.  Especially since about 40% of sales are off market in Atherton so we think it’s been number one for a while.  Due to the volume of buyers from China, more properties are actually going on to MLS where they can be seen on various websites the Chinese buyers look at.

The median home price is $9.4 million, up from $6.6 from last year.  The first quarter of this year has recorded 7 sales over $10 million dollars  and there are many listed now from 10-50 million dollars (on and off market).

The crazy thing is also that Menlo Park is now moving quickly up the price ranks as well.  Just as an example, today on tour there were 10 new listings all over 2 million dollars and the highest is $5.85 million.  Just last year, Menlo Park was averaging in the $1.6 price range and that is also surging.

Prices across the board are up 30% from last year, so what was unaffordable last year to the average person is even more over the top this year.  There are still multiple bidding wars going on for properties at all price points.  Take for example the property that was on broker tour in Atherton last week for 14 million and is being quoted as being bought sight unseen by a Chinese buyer.  The fact of the matter is that an agent I toured it with actually bought it right after tour and before I could bring my clients by to see it.  I knew it would go fast, but I wasn’t expecting it to go that fast.

Overall, luxury real estate is alive and well and especially along the Peninsula in cities like Atherton, Palo Alto, Menlo Park and Los Altos hills.  There are still more buyers than sellers, but hopefully some more inventory will start to hit soon.  My buyers are getting frustrated!

President Obama in Atherton

President Obama and the throngs of secret service will be here Thursday as the President visits our town of Atherton. He will start with a brunch at the home of Liz Simons and Mark Heising and then job on over to the home of Marcia and John Goldman for a lunch. Both stops are obviously to raise money for the democratic party so there will be Atherton’s finest paying top dollar for a meal with the leader of the free world.

Various roads will be temporarily closed around the Alameda de las Pulgas and Valparaiso areas, so I would definitely avoid those routes around Walsh Road and the Stockbridge/Selby lane areas.

The President will see some of the top real estate this country has to offer as well as lots of construction activity. There are so many homes being built, fixed and updated that driving through many streets in Atherton and Menlo Park will surely convince the President that the economy is surging and people are working. Atherton real estate as well as the area has had a surge in prices over the past year and ranks one of the highest priced areas in the country.

Atherton Real Estate owned by several of the Forbes Billionaires

The Forbes Billionaires list shows that the richest people in the United States call Silicon Valley home and several own real estate in Atherton.

Atherton real estate is owned by Eric Schmidt of Google, whose net worth is estimated at $8.2 billion,  Charles Schwab, financial broker,  at $4.3 billion, George Roberts of KKR at $4.1 billion and Meg Whitman of HP/ebay at $1.9 billion.  Charles Schwab’s home is listed by my office at Alain Pinel and can be seen if you are an interested buyer, please give me a call.  Meg Whitman is a neighbor of mine and I know her house is not currently on the market, but we’ll see how it goes at HP this year!

Atherton real estate is obviously a good investment as the smartest and the richest have put their money down in this prime area. For the complete list of billionaires and where they live, see the link below.

Forbes US Billionaires

I work with a lot of high end clients who want their privacy respected and are interested to buy and sell real estate in Atherton via “off market” transactions as well as on market.  If you are interested in buying or selling, please don’t hesitate to contact me at 650.543.1202 or gkurtz@apr.com.

Atherton Luxury Real Estate Prices on The Rise

Home sales and prices of Atherton real estate took a healthy jump for the year 2012 at a slightly above average 12 percent.  Atherton real estate has one of the highest average prices in the country at just over $4.5 million dollars.  So far in 2013, we are seeing a surge in mega priced homes that will be hitting the market soon in the over 50 million dollar range.  Atherton real estate is held by many a VC, CEO and tech giant who might be living behind those closed gates leading to properties well over one acre.

San Mateo Country Real Estate Sales Up in 2012

Homes sales in San Mateo County took a decent jump in 2012 with the number of sales up 10% for the entire county and the average price was up 7% to almost $995,000.  It’s amazing to think that it’s almost a million dollars to buy an average home anywhere in San Mateo country.

Atherton Estate on Market by Car Dealership Mogul

May 2012 Real Estate Sales Figures for Atherton

Luxury Real Estate along the Peninsula continued to show increases across the board for the month of May 2012 compared to May 2011.  Everybody knows that prices have been on the rise partly due to the Facebook effect and the number of buyers that are out there looking.  Atherton is an area not usually associated with the young, mainly single, group of buyers from Facebook as they are looking more towards Palo Alto or the urban living of the City.  So, when you see sales figures for Atherton rise, it’s a good sign for overall growth of the area and jobs growing, companies making money and international buyers still coming to the area.

The average list price for May 2012 in Atherton was $6,732,000 and last year the average list price for May was $4,389,000.  That’s a 53% increase from year to year.  The more important number, average sales price, was $5,303,000 this May and $4,420,000 last May, an increase this year of 19%.  Both years had a total of 7 sales for the month (on market sales) and this year had 23 new listings in May compared to 16 last year, an increase of 43%.  The average price per square foot this year hit the 4 digit mark with an average of $1,092 while last year had an average for the month of $882 per square foot.

I’ll keep an eye on the sales, let me know if you would like me to send you automatic updates of closed sales or anything else that might be of interest to you.

Open House in Atherton Today at $6.7 Million Dollar Home

Gary Kurtz is holding an open house today at 9 Atherton Oaks Lane in Atherton from 1:30pm-4:30pm.  The house is listed for $6.7 million dollars and has 8,190 square feet plus 200 square foot pool house and 880 sf 5 car garage. It’s located on 1.09 acres and is very quiet and peaceful. The home is located next door to where Joe Montana lived when he was still with the 49ers.  The home has 5 bedrooms, a library, guest suite, huge living and family rooms plus a master bedroom that is very spacious.  A four car garage that has a car lift for a fifth car.  Beautiful hardwood floors throughout the downstairs and a massive entry that must be seen.  Come out to say hello or give me a call if you have any questions about the home.

Atherton Luxury Estate Price Reduction

A beautiful estate in Atherton has just lowered the asking price of their 7,000 square foot, 6 bedroom, 5 1/2 bath on over one acre property to $6.6 million. That’s a price reduction of $400k! The home also has a pool, large grassy yard, sand volleyball court and located next door to where Joe Montana lived several years ago.  Atherton real estate has fewer properties on the market this year compared to last year, but homes are still moving and Atherton was just named as the second most expensive zip code in the nation as was reported today in the Realtor.com article. The full list is an interesting read.

Atherton Real Estate Sales Update for September 2011

Atherton luxury real estate sales figures for the month of September, 2011 compared to September 2010.  As you can see, the numbers are staying steady as listing prices are way up, but sales prices continue to remain down a bit from last year.