Los Altos Home Prices - Real Estate Gained Double Digits Again in 2015.

2015 Los Altos Home Price Summary

Median home prices in Los Altos gained another 15.7% in 2015 while the average home jumped 13.4%.

My calculations for the change from 2014 to 2015:

• Median price went up 15.7% from $2,370,000 to $2,741,00
• Average price went up 13.4% from $2,594,807 to $2,943,503

"Kirk's Two Investment Letters - Which is Best for You?"

I recommend a "core" portfolio for about 80 to 95% of your funds and an "explore" portfolio made of stocks from my newsletter "explore portfolio" for the remainder.  My newsletter stocks are volatile by design to add to overall returns, but you need a good core portfolio to sleep well at night. I offer several different core portfolios for both aggressive & conservative investors.  

If you are not interested in individual stocks, then just follow one of my two core portfolios for 100% of your investment assets.  One portfolio is for "conservative" investors and the other is for "Aggressive" investors.  They use the same funds, but with different percentages so you can easily move from aggressive to conservative as you age or have success and want to lock in nice gains to retire early.

Below is a summary of data I got in the mail from Los Altos realtor David Troyer. Contact David@DavidTroyer.com

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Current Open House Today

This shows what was there before they tore it down and built a new home (3b/2b 1504 sq ft home on 9928 sq ft lot)

Today maxed out 3084 sq ft house (Biggest you can build on that lot) for $4.3 Million!

Los Altos Real Estate Gains 12.9% in 2014

Real Estate in Los Altos gained 13% on 2014 compared to 2013 prices.

The median single-family home price for Los Altos California at the end of 2014 was $2,370,000 a gain of 12.9% over 2013 when it was "only" $2,100,000.

2014 was a seller's market as the average Los Altos home sold for 11% above the asking price!

Located between Apple, Google, Facebook and Tesla and just a short drive to Stanford University, Los Altos is central to many of today's growing companies that turned founders and employees into recent millionaires.  With some of the top schools in the country, Los Altos is a prime target for young tech titans looking to diversify their stock holdings and settle down to raise a family or just live in a town with a low crime rate and larger lots for the money when compared to Palo Alto on its Northern border.

Since 1998, the average is up $1,750 or 282% for an annualized gain of 8.7% over 16 years, see:

• Los Altos Real Estate Statistics for 2014

Los Altos real estate data courtesy of Alain Pinel realtors Jeff Stricker (jstricker@apr.com) and Steve Tenbroeck (stenbroeck@apr.com)

Los Altos Home Prices for August 2014

The median single-family home price for Los Altos California as of August 2014 is $2,250,000 a gain of 2% over August 2013 when it was $2,204,000.

The average Los Altos home sold for 5.7% above the asking price!

Located between Apple, Google, Facebook and Tesla and just a short drive to Stanford University, Los Altos is central to many of today's growing companies that turned founders and employees into recent millionaires.  With some of the top schools in the country, Los Altos is a prime target for young tech titans looking to diversify their stock holdings and settle down to raise a family or just live in a town with a low crime rate and larger lots for the money when compared to Palo Alto on its Northern border.

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Historical Mortgage Rates

August2014 Los Altos Sales Summary

The three portfolios in Kirk Lindstrom's Investment Letter are again near record all time highs.  

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Los Altos real estate data courtesy of Alain Pinel realtors Jeff Stricker (jstricker@apr.com) and Steve Tenbroeck (stenbroeck@apr.com)

Los Altos Home Prices for June 2014

This article shows:

• The 6-month trend for Median Single-Family Home Prices for Los Altos, California
• Individual Single Family Home Sales List for June 2014
• The three portfolios in Kirk Lindstrom's Investment Letter are again at record all time highs. Subscribe today and get the July 2014 Issue for FREE!

Located between Apple, Google, Facebook and Tesla and just a short drive to Stanford University, Los Altos is central to many of today's growing companies that turned founders and employees into recent millionaires.  With some of the top schools in the country, Los Altos is a prime target for young tech titans looking to diversify their stock holdings and settle down to raise a family or just live in a town with a low crime rate.

The median single-family home price for Los Altos California as of June 2014 is $2,350,000

Historical Mortgage Rates

June 2014 Los Altos Sales Summary

The three portfolios in Kirk Lindstrom's Investment Letter are again at record all time highs.  

Subscribe today and get the July 2014 Issue for FREE!

Los Altos real estate data courtesy of Alain Pinel realtors Jeff Stricker (jstricker@apr.com) and Steve Tenbroeck (stenbroeck@apr.com)

Home Prices vs School API Test Scores for Santa Clara County

2014 Home Prices vs 2013 API Test Scores for Santa Clara County School Districts

Click for full sized image

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I write two different, but related, newsletters, "The Retirement Advisor" and Kirk Lindstrom's "Core and Explore" Investment Letter Service.  For more information on both, see "Kirk's Two Investment Letters - Which is Best for You?"

1. "Kirk Lindstrom's Investment Letter Service" is $155 a year and uses the "core and explore" method to invest. It has two core portfolios plus an explore portfolio of individual stocks. 
2.  I write "The Retirement Advisor" with David Korn. We sell this for a very modest $99. We offer three model portfolios. We do not recommend individual stocks but we have articles that discuss current financial events such as economic data and Social Security COLAs. We also have articles to help you save money plus we find CDs with FDIC paying the highest rates. Our most aggressive portfolio has 50% in equities. Our most conservative portfolio contains no equity exposure.  Download a free issue (Slow to load pdf) 

API Data courtesy of Owen Halliday
Owen@serenogroup.com
www.owenhalliday.com

Los Altos Home Prices Break Two Million Mark for a Modest Home

Located between Apple, Google, Facebook and Tesla and just a short drive to Stanford University, Los Altos is central to many of today's growing companies that turned founders and employees into recent millionaires.  With some of the top schools in the country, Los Altos is a prime target for young tech titans looking to diversify their stock holdings and settle down to raise a family or just live in a town with a low crime rate.

This house on 914 Mercedes Ave is a short walk to highly rated Santa Rita Elementary (942 API score) and Egan intermediate (984 API Score) schools.

Historical Mortgage Rates

Is this the top of another bubble or have towns with good schools and large lots in the Silicon Valley joined the ranks of world class locations like London, New York, Paris, etc. as places people want to live and those with money will keep the prices going up?

The Mortgage Crisis Is Not Over but There are Bargains in Stocks

60 Minutes' Scott Pelley reports on the mortgage crisis that's far from over with a second wave of expected defaults on the way that could deepen the bottom of the U.S. recession.

On the next wave of defaults: "...just like the sub primes, the Alt-As and option ARMs were bundled and sold to investors." Watch the video:


On the next wave of defaults: "...just like the sub primes, the Alt-As and option ARMs were bundled and sold to investors." Watch more CBS Videos Online

It is too bad people got loans they could not pay back. I have a 5 year, 4.875% ARM that reset at yesterday's 1-year LIBOR rate plus 2.25%. With today's low LIBOR rates, my mortgage rate will go down starting with my February 2009 payment. [See Libor Rates at a Glance]

Ninja Loans were the worst

• No Income
• No Job
• No Assets

Ninja loans became popular because some borrowers and lenders believed real estate would only go up.

"One out of ten Americans is behind on their mortgage." The good news in the story is one of the people who predicted the financial melt-down is finding good values in the US stock market.

More Information:

• Libor Rates at a Glance
  
  
• US Treasury Rates at a Glance
  
  
• World Stock Markets at a Glance
  

Read and Post Comments Here

Real Estate Downfall - Housing Bubble Bursts

The Housing Bubble bursts on a speculator who explains why he thought housing only went up. Dark humor showing what happened to many.

YouTube Video titled "Real Estate Downfall"


The line "I'll get you a job as a dog groomer" is funny. So many "luxury jobs" like that will vanish as people stop spending on silly things that are not necessities. $4 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks is another luxury. How many have switched to the $1.85 cup of better tasting brewed coffee at Starbucks already?

New Web Pages to Bookmark:

• US Treasury Rates at a Glance
  
  
• World Stock Markets at a Glance
  
  
• Libor Rates at a Glance

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Mortgate Rates - National Average

Rates from Best Mortgage Rates at ForBestAdvice - Real Estate

With the 1 year LIBOR Rate at 2.77%, there is not a big hurry to refinance "reasonable" ARMS now.

             Mortgage Loans
NATIONAL OVERNIGHT AVERAGES Today  Last Wk
 30 yr fixed mortgage        5.94%  5.76%
 15 yr fixed mortgage        5.43%  5.20%
 5/1 ARM mortgage            5.17%  5.02%
 30 yr fixed jumbo mortgage  6.90%  6.78%
 5/1 jumbo ARM mortgage      5.82%  5.67%
.

             Home Equity Loans
NATIONAL OVERNIGHT AVERAGES Today  Last Wk
 $30K HELOC                  5.77%  5.78%
 $50K HELOC                  5.18%  5.18%
 $30K Home Equity Loan       7.60%  7.60%
 $50K Home Equity Loan       7.34%  7.34%
 $75K Home Equity Loan       7.34%  7.34%

.
See it all better formatted at Best Mortgage Rates

Sub-prime Meltdown Crisis Explained

In the "funny but true" category, this is an exceptional (and most hilarious) explanation of the sub-prime financial crisis.

"Rewarding the Ingenuity of the Markets"

Question: "Isn't that rewarding greed and stupidity?"

Answer: "No, no. It is rewarding.... the ingenuity of the markets."

"We want this money to .... so we can continue to lend money as if nothing happened without thinking too much about it."

Request Invitation to FREE facebook discussion group "Investing for the Long Term."


Q: "If you don't get this money, what then?"

A: "Well then there would be another market crash. Then we would say what we always say. It is not us that will suffer, it is your pension fund."

CD Rate Survey

The best rate is 5.45% at Countrywide Bank for 3 months

1 and 2 yrs: 5.21% at Apple Bank for Savings

3 yrs: 5.00% at Capital One Bank & Flagstar Bank

5 yrs: 5.26% at Apple Bank for Savings

7 & 10 yrs: 5.10% at Capital One Bank

From the Highest CD Rates survey at forbestadvice.com

Quality Real Estate Holds Up In Sub Prime Meltdown

I am impressed at how negative “the boyz” have everyone from Jim Cramer and Larry Kudlow to Republican politicians fearing for their jobs. They are panicking as the stock markets are correcting for excessive risk taking when they ask the Federal Reserve to bail the risk takers out before the Fed is sure inflation is going down for good (See Chart of ECRI's WLI Growth Rate vs US GDP: 09/09/07 that shows the Fed can now cut rates.)

It is sad to see some will lose their homes when their mortgages reset at market rates they can't afford, but what made them think they could live in a house with a monthly mortgage far cheaper than the house cost to rent?

I have little sympathy for those seeking returns in excess of safe CDs and US Treasuries who are being crushed when their sub prime paper they bought with all sorts of fancy names is worth less than they paid. Sure it was nice to get 8 or 11% yields for awhile, but only a fool would think you get that sort of yield without high risk. (See Best CD Rates.)

In the major cities benefiting from global trade where there are good jobs and homes are too expensive to buy for speculation, real estate is going up! I do not think anyone is talking about this on TV.

Los Altos, California Real Estate Prices 2000-2007

Click image to see it full sized.

Los Altos, CA, just down the street from Google with its young millionaires looking for homes to raise families in a city with great schools, is doing great despite sky high prices.

Towns across the SF Bay or in South San Jose where renters were converted to homeowners to buy inflated houses due to the low cost of money are not doing well. This should serve as a reminder to anyone “speculating” on a home that buying a house in a poor location just because it is going up is risky.