Most Secure U.S. Places to Live - We are #1

Health, prosperity, safety and security are all desirable aspects when it comes to seeking a place to live work or raise a family. According to our fourth annual Most Secure U.S. Places to live rankings from Farmers Insurance Group of Companies®, the city/metropolitan-area that best meets those qualifications is the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area in northern California's Silicon Valley tops all large metropolitan areas (population of 500,000 or greater), scoring particularly well in the extreme weather and terrorist threats categories. The area is considered one of the leading research and development centers of the world; in 2005, San Jose and Sunnyvale ranked first and second in the number of utility patents filed in the U.S.

Large Metro Areas (500,000 or more residents)

1. San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, Calif.

2. Boise City-Nampa, Idaho

3. Bethesda-Gaithersburg-Frederick, Md.

4. San Francisco-San Mateo-Redwood City, Calif.

5. Oxnard-Thousand Oaks-¬Ventura, Calif.

6. Bridgeport-Stamford-Norwalk, Conn.

7. Nassau County-Suffolk County, N.Y.

8. New Haven-Milford, Conn.

9. Lake County, Ill./Kenosha County, Wis.

10. Honolulu, Hawaii

11. Portland-South Portland-Biddeford, Maine

12. Cambridge-Newton-Framingham, Mass.

13. Edison, N.J.

14. Portland-Beaverton, Ore./Vancouver, Wash.

15. Santa Ana-Anaheim, Calif.

16. Madison, Wis.

17. Seattle-Bellevue-Everett, Wash.

18. Rochester, N.Y.

19. Syracuse, N.Y.

20. Essex County, Mass.

For the Complete article click here

Your Silicon Valley & Sunnyvale Real Estate Professional
Mark Thomason
http://www.thomasonteam.com/
408.850.3085

Sunnyvale Real Estate is the Fastest Selling Real Estate in the County!

This is according to a Business Week press release on Sept 6th, 2008. This article specifically calls out the 94087 zip code of the Sunnyvale Real Estate market.

Click Here to see the complete article.

Great news for Sunnyvale property owners.

Your Silicon Valley & Sunnyvale Real Estate Professional
Mark Thomason
http://www.thomasonteam.com/
408.850.3085

Silicon Valley Median Sold Price Comparison for Single Familly Homes

Based on a number of emails on my previous comparison from two days ago. I am now providing a Median sold price comparison for Santa Clara County. I have also sorted the chart from the cities that have the highest increase in value (Los Altos) to the largest decline in value (Gilroy).

Please keep providing feedback and requests so I can keep you all informed.

Your Silicon Valley & Sunnyvale Real Estate Professional
Mark Thomason
http://www.thomasonteam.com/
408.850.3085

What rescue means for mortgage interest rates

Bailout of mortgage giants should result in lower mortgage costs and make credit more available. But lending standards will stay tight and risky borrowers will still pay extra fees.

Sunday's federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will likely translate into lower mortgage rates and greater availability of credit, experts said. Rates could drop by 1 percentage point from the stubbornly-high 6.39% for a 30-year fixed rate mortgage. The interest rates have dropped about .5% over the last two days. This is great news for buyers and anyone needing to refinance.

Your Silicon Valley & Sunnyvale Real Estate Professional
Mark Thomason
http://www.thomasonteam.com/
408.850.3085

Silicon Valley Market Home Value Update - Santa Clara County

Single Family Residential Average Sales Price

WOW, Take a look at Gilroy as they've experienced a 40% drop in the average sale price in just 12 months. The chart below is using only the closed home sales in the month of August 2007 comparing to August 2008.

Some cities are still holding pretty strong on their real estate home prices, like Cupertino, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, and Los Gatos. Although the City of Saratoga has great schools it appears to have lost some value based on this home sales comparision. Saratoga does have a large pricing diversity on homes currently listed as of today from a low of $799,900 to a high of $12,000,000.

I will be providing additional market information on a regular basis so, please let me know what market information you would like to see next.

Your Silicon Valley & Sunnyvale Real Estate Professional
Mark Thomason
http://www.thomasonteam.com/
408.850.3085
RE/MAX Real Estate Services