Jim Guido's Blog

Good news reported today that the median price of houses sold in Santa Clara County rose 21 percent last month from February 2009 and Sales also rose 4 percent. The median price of the previously owned, single-family houses in Santa Clara County last month was $510,500, up from $421,000 February 2009 as reported by DataQuick. Also reported was that Resale condominiums posted a median price of $315,000 which is up 16 percent from $271,500 in February 2009. The rise in the median price was also up in San Mateo County, where the median price of houses increased 13 percent to $600,000 which is up from $531,000 last year and sales climbed 5 percent. Condos didn’t do as well and the median condo price in that county was $330,000, down 13 percent from February 2009. As reported this increase in median price is mostly due to the changing mix of homes being sold and as a matter of fact some home values are still falling.

Rismedia is reporting that instead of playing the trade up game, more homeowners are staying in their homes. They are upgrading their kitchens and bathrooms and also adding additions to accommodate their needs in-lieu of moving into a larger home. Architects say they’re seeing demand for and inquiries about home-remodeling projects which again include kitchen and bath upgrades and home additions. These upgrades for the most part are for kitchens being upgraded with practical improvements and features to make the space more usable and the same holds true for the bathrooms.
The five most popular kitchen products and features include:
-Recycling center, a designated place to put cans, papers, etc., which could be in the form of a nook or even part of the lower cabinetry
-Larger pantry space
-Renewable flooring materials
-Renewable countertop materials
-Computer area/recharging stations, dedicated to such tasks as recharging laptops, cell phones and PDAs.
The same desire for practicality and less glitz can be found in the bathroom.
The five most popular bathroom products and features include:
-Water-saving toilets
-Radiant heated floors
-Accessibility/universal design, or features that are adaptable and allow homeowners to age in place
-LED lighting
-Doorless showers.

I just thought I would remind you that this weekend(2:00 AM Sunday) we spring forward an hour and start daylight savings time. I will be very happy for the later sunset and all the fun stuff we can now do later into the evening.
I hope you enjoy the extended daylight too. It also looks like some great weather is coming also. Have a nice weekend.

Here is the latest Real Estate Market report for the Greater Bay Area and Central Coastal Communities. Click on the link below for the updated numbers. This will give you a snap shot of the updated Real Estate trends in the these Markets.

http://www.clarusresource.com/marketdata/MLSListings/index.html