Why is San Jose cheaper than other cities..? (Los Angeles, Sunnyvale: condo, crime)

[seltzer]

I am moving to the Silicon Valley next year. I will be looking for a house to buy at that point. But...

It seems that San Jose is much cheaper than say, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Palo Alto and Mountanview, even though these cities are more 'remote' than San Jose which seems to offer more amenities...

It's not like SH has more crime - I looked up the crime data, and saw that all of these cities are all very safe. Nor is it due to less jobs.. there are planty.

Is SH cheaper because of other reasons..? Airplane noise, so-so school system, etc..?

Please let me know... Big Thanks.

[sonarrat]

A few reasons:

1) Traffic. Every major street and every freeway in San Jose is logjammed most of the time, almost as bad as Los Angeles.
2) Older housing stock. If a neighborhood has an abundance of 1920's bungalows or condo conversions built in the '60s, then it's going to depress property values.
3) Perception of crime and gang activity in many corners of the city. Those that lack the perception have higher property values.

[gmkarr]

Originally Posted by sonarrat

A few reasons:

1) Traffic. Every major street and every freeway in San Jose is logjammed most of the time, almost as bad as Los Angeles.
2) Older housing stock. If a neighborhood has an abundance of 1920's bungalows or condo conversions built in the '60s, then it's going to depress property values.
3) Perception of crime and gang activity in many corners of the city. Those that lack the perception have higher property values.

That sounds right except for the part about 1920's bungalows depressing property values. I actually understood that 1920's homes are actually highly desireable and increase property values. Willow Glen area of San Jose has many 1920's homes, and has one of the property values in San Jose.

[krudmonk]

Racists

I say that half-jokingly.

[hsw]

Schools, traffic, air quality, heat, more arid terrain than leafier mid-Peninsula (SJ tends to have negative look of inland valleys in LA region)....older houses tend to be less seismically sound (CA is a quake zone)...distance from SFO for frequent business travelers...

Most in SV w/a few bucks seem to prefer to live in PaloAlto or one of the suburbs West of 280 (Woodside or Los Altos Hills) over anything deeper South in SV or nr the 101....

Crowd in PA area tends to be better educated (more Stanford and Harvard alums) than crowd in SouthBay suburbs...parents in PA area tend to be more education-focused high achievers themselves than many parents in SouthBay, w/implications for culture of any schools (public or private) that their kids attend

[sonarrat]

Originally Posted by gmkarr

That sounds right except for the part about 1920's bungalows depressing property values. I actually understood that 1920's homes are actually highly desireable and increase property values. Willow Glen area of San Jose has many 1920's homes, and has one of the property values in San Jose.

Maybe the victorians, but most of San Jose's neighborhoods were not so desirable in those days and so the homes were pretty spartan. If you built a brand-new house on San Jose's White Road, which has a lot of dated housing stock, it wouldn't hold the same value as if it was on King Street which has some newer development.

[Luke9686]

I'd have to ask which areas of San Jose are you looking at? If you are looking at a house for $350K in east S.J., then comparing that to a house in Cupertino, that's like comparing apples to bowling balls.

If you are looking at the the average home value in San Jose, you have to realize that takes into account all areas of San Jose. The good, the bad and the ugly.

Schools are a big factor in home values in the San Jose area. Areas with good schools demand a much higher price than areas with not so great schools.

There are some really great areas of all the places listed. No matter what city in the area, the nice areas are going to cost much more than the others.

Cupertino and Palo Alto (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH EAST PALO ALTO), are extremely expensive. Sunnyvale and M.V. will be less expensive than those two. I suggest you make a list of the most important factors and visit the area.

[MichaelinWA]

Yep, San Jose is much larger and diverse than the other cities. Buried in the averages are relatively expensive areas, like Almaden Valley and Willow Glen.

[LexusNexus]

Because it's just a bigger version of Campbell. Really, the Milwaukee of the West.

[krudmonk]

Originally Posted by Alexus

Because it's just a bigger version of Campbell. Really, the Milwaukee of the West.

It's the UFC to your old boxing ****.