Come on. What an article for the front page of a Mt. View paper - Look at our LOCAL market - this is not true at all. Ask anyone who has tried to buy recently who has lost out on multiple offers. This includes Mt. View, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, parts of Santa Clara. If you lump in the greater Santa Clara County, this brings the averages down. You can't accurately talk about 'the' market. You have to look at individual cities and specific areas. This is NOT an accurate representation. I'm disappointed you print this - and on the front page.

Agree. Superficial analysis.

Look at the front page of the Mercury News today! That will give you a better sense of what is going on.

Try to do some accurate research before you rush to press with false facts, very unprofessional report, I'm deeply offended!!

Finally, an honest report on the housing market. Thanks for printing the facts. It's going to get worse when rates start to go up.

Boo Hoo. One million dollars for a track home that needs paint, neighbors are too busy and self-important to talk to you, kids too glued to the computer to make it seem like a neighborhood. No thanks.

Well said Fanny.

As far as the article overall. Pointless and irrelevant.

Sounds like a bunch of realtors posting. The State of CA holds 60% of the Nations ARMs--approximately 200,000 loans. Nearly half of these loans are 30+ days late, and ARMs will continue to recast over the next few years. Those are predominantly in SoCal, but this area has its fair share. And 20% of mortgages in the San Jose-Sunnyvale are underwater--FACT.

Unemployment is still high and rates must eventually go up. Oh, and the state is bleeding in the red.

The data tells the real story. A handful of fools that are jumping in without full knowledge of what's coming will not save the real estate market.

Here is great example from a guy at work:
Extracts his "sweet" home equity from a townhome for $200K
Buys a house in San Jose for $777K using the "sweet" equity as a downpayment in '07
His San Jose house is now worth $500K
Both mortgages are now underwater
He has lost all equity; I told him to walk but like most of the "smart" people in the SillyCon valley, he'll go down with the ship

Real Estate is Dead as an "investment" for the next decade. If you have money to burn and want to buy, go for it. Just don't call it can "investment". Those days are gone.

Looks like a bunch of real estate agents on the first bunch of posting.

The reality is Silicon Valley jobs have left the country from 2001 and they are not coming back.
First quarter of 2006 was top in real estate and have been sliding since and may be the worst decline we will ever experience.

Rising UNEMPLOYMENT is the worst enemy for real estate prices and a rude awaking for real estate agents trying to make a living in bad times.

I'm not a realtor, just a homeowner in Mountain View. I havn't noticed many homes for sale in the area which is quite different than East San Jose. I agree that this information was much more suitable for a San Jose paper than a Mountain View paper. Mountain View is one of the cities that has maintained its home values. Why publish an article to the contrary? A very poor choice for the front cover and the author must have her head in the sand. Stupid analysis.

D.Craig,
Let me see if I understand this. You're basing your analysis of Mountain View housing on your homeowner experience, your keen observation of sales, and possibly home values. What I've seen in data in the other bubble areas of the state is large shadow inventories; banks delaying foreclosure listings. I've noticed significant price reductions in low-end Mountain View. The high-end will be affected as the toxic ARMs recast. And if memory serves, the Bay Area had ~35,000 toxic ARMs. Imagine most of these recasting and going into foreclosure--they will.

Stupid analysis? By whom, I wonder.

Here is some news from MarketWatch:
--- start ---
Sales of existing homes have thus fallen three consecutive months, a reversal after having risen steadily through the fall in response to a federal subsidy for first-time home buyers. The tax credit has been restored and expanded to repeat buyers, but there has been no increase in sales yet.
--- end ---

Here is what Denninger wrote (Market Ticker), which I agree with:
--- start ---
There is only one way to clear the housing market - prices must decline dramatically so that Americans can buy homes at a reasonable multiple of their incomes.

Historical "fair values" have been at 3x incomes, but that's assuming 20% down payments and all 30 year fixed mortgages. The difficulty of saving up a 20% down payment when one is burdened with insane amounts of credit card, automobile and student loan debt is obvious.

There is no solution to the problem that does not clear, not simply defer, this excessive debt.
--- end ---

This was in the Mercury News...
The deal reached Monday provides $200 million in new tax credits for homebuyers, to be split evenly among those buying a home for the first time and anyone buying a newly constructed home. Anyone qualified who makes a purchase between this May and August 2011 will receive a credit for 5 percent of the home's purchase price, up to $10,000 over three years.

If things were stable, why would they offer this stuff?
Answer: desperation