Posted by resident, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Oct 17, 2012 at 1:15 pm

Facebook stock price has gone down, but there are still hundreds of new millionaires working in Menlo Park. Are they going to hold out for higher stock prices? Or buy real estate before interest rates go up?

Posted by Jan H., a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 17, 2012 at 2:09 pm

If they were going to buy houses, they missed the boat. Inventory is way down and it is a seller's market now.

Posted by resident, a resident of the Downtown North neighborhood, on Oct 17, 2012 at 3:13 pm

Inventory is way down and sellers are asking for premium prices because of the Facebook IPO millionaires, right?

Posted by palo alto mom, a resident of the Duveneck/St. Francis neighborhood, on Oct 17, 2012 at 3:30 pm

2 houses on Seale just sold for over 5 and somewhere around 6 million in literally a matter of days. I think Palo Alto real estate is doing just fine.

Posted by Jan H., a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 17, 2012 at 5:30 pm

Inventory is down because it is autumn. But speculation that Facebook Babies would buy here drove prices way up. According to three people I know in different sectors of the housing industry, including financial, there are a lot of unsold houses in PA and Menlo , and they are being price-reduced, because the IPO did not pan out for employees. Only the investors made money. The non-management employees have not even gotten any money yet, yet they will receive far less than they were led to believe.

However, Amy local real estate agents claim they are seeing 5 million dollar houses fly out the window, while homes priced between 1 and 3 million are NOT selling.

Posted by Movement, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Oct 17, 2012 at 5:34 pm

Jan: do you EVER post factual data with substantiation, or are you wed to anecdotal type stories?

cuz I heard three people today say just the opposite of what you claim!

Your move.

Posted by Jan H., a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 17, 2012 at 7:49 pm

I only know what people in the know tell me. One of them I am married to, some of them do business with him.

Posted by Data, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Oct 18, 2012 at 9:59 am

"However, Amy local real estate agents claim they are seeing 5 million dollar houses fly out the window, while homes priced between 1 and 3 million are NOT selling."

If you look at the data for the most recent month (see link below), out of the 28 houses sold in September, 3 sold for over $3M, 22 sold for $1-3M, and 3 sold for under $1M.

Web Link

Posted by Data, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Oct 18, 2012 at 10:02 am

Oops, sorry, I was looking at listing prices. If you look at actual selling prices, in September, 25 sold for $1-3M and 3 sold for over $3M.

In any case, the original statement that >$3M houses are selling at a much faster rate than $1-3M houses is simply not true--not by a long shot.

Posted by Movement, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Oct 18, 2012 at 10:17 am

"I only know what people in the know tell me." Intellectually incurious.

How does an IPO that puts large amounts of money into the market (though less than some anticipated) actually HURT the market?

Making anonymous, anecdotal claims ("local real estate agents claim they are seeing") adds nothing to the issue. @Date adds facts -- thanks!

Posted by George, a resident of the Greenmeadow neighborhood, on Oct 18, 2012 at 12:48 pm

Jan:

"A local builder, architect, and banker say that yes"

Please identify them.

"I only know what people in the know tell me. One of them I am married to, some of them do business with him."

I thought that your husband owned a small business. Is it a real estate office? if not, then where does he get his information regarding that issue that you are proclaiming on this forum??

Movement has you figured out as well.

Posted by Crescent Park Dad, a resident of the Crescent Park neighborhood, on Oct 18, 2012 at 1:04 pm

The FB IPO is only a flop in the retail stock market. For those investors and employees that were in the company --- hardly a flop at all. Some of those folks have a base price of less than $1.00 per share! So even if the stock dropped to $20, they are so far ahead of the curve it is mind blowing to consider their new found wealth.

Posted by Jan H., a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 18, 2012 at 2:18 pm

George: he is an economist who provides business strategies for emerging technologies. That is a small business. Why should I identify people for you, so you can harass them, too?

Posted by Movement, a resident of the Adobe-Meadows neighborhood, on Oct 18, 2012 at 2:27 pm

no links to facts + no names = anecdotal hearsay

Like your thread on inflation, claiming gas prices are at unheard of levels, when they are at the same levels nationally as July 2008. Web Link

Unsubstantiated (often incorrect) claims.

Posted by ducatigirl, a resident of the Old Palo Alto neighborhood, on Oct 25, 2012 at 12:48 pm
ducatigirl is a member (registered user) of Palo Alto Online

It seems that so far, people who have received money from the Facebook IPO havechosen to buy in Woodside or somewhere more posh than PA.

As reported by the spouse of a FB employee whostands to get rich in December, anyway.