Market Conditions By City
Price/Square Foot Ratio
$2,500 $2,000 $1,500 $1,000 $500 $0
Atherton
Los Altos
Los Altos Menlo Park Mountain Hills View
Palo Alto
Portola Valley
Redwood San Carlos Sunnyvale Woodside City
Price per square foot ratio for single-family homes in 3 years (since July 2023). 7/2023 - 7/2024
7/2024 - 7/2025
7/2025 - 7/2026
Average Sale Price
$14,000,000 $12,000,000 $10,000,000 $8,000,000 $6,000,000 $4,000,000 $2,000,000 $0
Atherton Los Altos Los Altos Hills
Menlo Mountain Palo Alto Park View
Portola Redwood San Carlos Sunnyvale Woodside Valley City
Average sale price for single-family homes in 3 years (since July 2023). 7/2023 - 7/2024
7/2024 - 7/2025
7/2025 - 7/2026 Source: MLSListings, Inc., as of August 14, 2026 Criteria: Single Family Residential
2
R E A L E S TAT E TA X
above asking price. While that sale was in Atherton, the same imbalance between demand and supply is increasingly evident across Silicon Valley’s most desirable communities. There is also a powerful network effect. At the highest levels of Silicon Valley, buyers are not simply purchasing bedrooms, bathrooms, and acreage. They are choosing where they want to live within an ecosystem of entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and technology executives. The region’s prime residential communities are among the rare markets in the world where unprecedented wealth, innovation, and influence are concentrated within a remarkably small geographic area. For decades, Silicon Valley estates have offered a combination that is extraordinarily difficult to replicate: large parcels, tremendous privacy, and proximity to Stanford, Sand Hill Road, Palo Alto, and Menlo Park. There are beautiful estates throughout the country, but very few places allow someone to enjoy privacy while remaining only minutes from the center of the world’s most important technology ecosystem. That combination of privacy and proximity is becoming even more valuable as the concentration of AI wealth in Silicon Valley grows.
Of course, Atherton’s return to number one does not mean every luxury property will automatically appreciate. Buyers at these price levels have become increasingly discerning and strongly favor beautifully prepared, turnkey homes. That is why my team invests so much effort in property preparation, design, and staging to maximize our clients’ net proceeds. But the underlying economic forces are increasingly favorable. With Silicon Valley once again creating extraordinary wealth while the supply of its most desirable homes remains exceptionally constrained, I believe the region’s position among America’s elite real estate markets will strengthen for several years. Atherton’s return to number one as the nation’s most expensive ZIP code is therefore more than an interesting statistic. It may be an early indicator of the next major Silicon Valley real estate cycle. If artificial intelligence is fueling that cycle, Atherton may be one of the places where its impact is most visible. After all, Silicon Valley has always had a way of turning technological innovation into extraordinary wealth, and Atherton has long been one of the places where that wealth ultimately finds a home. Perhaps, then, civic leaders should consider a fun new nickname for the town: AI-therton. 1. Bloomberg.com/news/article/2026-07-30
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September 2026
A similar success occurred at 13321 La Paloma Road in Los Altos Hills. This home had also been on the market for a year with two past agents without receiving a single offer. We reevaluated the home and made strategic staging decisions, such as flipping the living room and dining room to better reflect how today’s buyers live and entertain. Additionally, a craft room was restaged as a bedroom with bunk beds since this was the only bedroom close to the primary suite, helping us solve what buyers might otherwise perceive as a floor plan weakness. Silicon Valley has some of the brightest and most sophisticated buyers in the world, but even the most discerning buyers can benefit from seeing exactly how a home can function for their lifestyle. Thoughtfully placed furniture can make the potential of a floor plan immediately apparent. The seller of 13321 La Paloma was amazed that, after taking a one-week vacation to allow the home to be easily shown while he was traveling, he returned to multiple offers that exceeded his expectations. He later told us that the sale, both faster and at a higher price than anticipated, had changed his life by freeing his family from what he described as “housing purgatory” and allowing them to return to Europe. The third-time-is-the-charm story may soon play out again this year with 1127 Hillslope Road in Los Altos. With two past agents and several years of market
exposure, this beautifully built newer home has now been restaged and strategically improved. We extended the lawn area and trimmed the oak trees to better showcase the panoramic Bay views. These changes should help buyers see the property through an entirely new lens and give the home the fresh market positioning it deserves. We frequently come in as the second listing agent and sell a home for more than it was previously listed for, as we recently did at 1686 Parkhills in Los Altos. But what we really excel at is taking a stale, stigmatized listing and transforming it into a fresh and compelling property. Through superior preparation, thoughtful staging, and extensive marketing, we can overcome previous buyer concerns and give exceptional homes another opportunity to achieve the price they deserve. Silicon Valley was built on learning from past mistakes, and real estate is no different. Of course, the ideal outcome is to choose the right team from the start and maximize both your price and negotiating leverage from the moment your home hits the market. But if your first agent, or even your second, does not deliver the result you expected, that does not mean the opportunity is lost. DeLeon Realty has developed particular expertise in succeeding where others have failed. Sometimes, the third time really is the charm.
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LOCAL EVENTS
LOCAL EVENTS CALENDAR September - October 2026
LOS ALT O S EVENT
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
COST
Wild West Whiskey & Bites Stroll
September 18
6 – 9pm
Check in at Veterans Commnity Plaza, Downtown Los Altos
Tickets on Sale
Corvette Spectacular
September 20
8am – 3pm
Downtown Los Altos
Free
Oktoberfest
September 26
3 - 6pm
Lincoln Park
Free
Witches & Warlocks Wine Stroll
October 23
6 – 9pm
Check in at Veterans Commnity Plaza, Downtown Los Altos
Tickets on Sale
Family Fun Days – Halloween Hoopla
October 24
10am – 1pm
Los Altos Community Center
Free
A Boo-tiful Downtown Halloween
October 30
12 - 4pm
Downtown Los Altos
Free
LOS ALT O S H I L L S EVENT
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
COST
Los Altos Hills Hoedown
September 5
4 – 7pm
Westwind Community Barn
Free
Drive-Through Shred Event
September 19
8 – 11am
Town Hall
Free
The 3rd Annual “Pet a Pony”
October 4
11am – 1pm
Purissima Park
Free
October 17
6 – 9pm
Town Hall
Free
EVENT
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
COST
Halloweek! Parade & Carnival
October 24
11am – 2pm
Parade: Downtown Menlo Park Carnival: Fremont Park
Free
Halloweek! Pumpkin Splash
October 25
11am – 3pm
Belle Haven and Burgess Pools
$12
Halloweek! Trunk-or-Treat
October 28
4:30 – 6pm
Belle Haven Commnity Campus
Free
Day Halloween Costume Game Night
M ENLO PA R K
LOCAL EVENTS
MOUNTAIN V I E W EVENT
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
COST
Concerts on the Plaza
September 4, 11, 18
6 – 7:30 pm
Civic Center Plaza
Free
Mountain View Art & Wine Festival
Sept 12 - 13
9/12 11am – 7pm 9/13 10am – 6pm
Downtown Mountain View on Castro Free Street
City-Wide Garage Sale
September 19 & 20
8am – 2pm
Online Map on City’s Website
Free
8th Annual Harvest History Festival
September 26
9am – 12pm
Heritage Park
Free
Spooky Times at Deer Hollow Farm
October 17
10am – 3pm
Deer Hollow Farm
$7 - $10
Monster Bash
October 24
10am – 2pm
Rengstorff Park
Free
EVENT
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
COST
Jazz and Harvest Fest on Cal Ave
September 24
5 – 8pm
California Avenue
Free
Great Glass Pumpkin Patch
September 26 & 27
10am – 5pm
Palo Alto Art Center
Free
Fall Family Day
October 18
2 – 4:30pm
Palo Alto Art Center
Free
Halloween Magic
October 24
10:30 – 11:30am Gamble Gardens
$45 - $55
Halloween & Oktoberfest on Cal Ave
October 31
10am
California Avenue
Free
PA LO ALT O
PORTOLA VA L L E Y EVENT
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
COST
Summer Concert Series Anthony Arya
September 10
5:30pm – 8pm
Town Center
Free
Town Picnic and Zotts to Tots
September 19
TBA
Town Center
Tickets on Sale
Portola Valley Arts Fest Party
September 19
4 – 8pm
Woodside Priory School
Free
Star Party
October 2
8 – 10pm
Town Center
Free
LOCAL EVENTS
R ED WOOD C I T Y EVENT
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
COST
Fiestas Patrias
September 13
2 – 8pm
Courthouse Square
Free
Oktoberfest
September 18 - 27
Times Vary
Courthouse Square
$10 - $37
S AN CARLO S EVENT
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
COST
Art and Wine Faire
October 10 - 11
10am – 6pm
Downtown San Carlos
Free
Goblin Walk
October 30
4 – 5:30pm
Laurel Street (San Carlos Ave to Arroyo Ave)
Free
EVENT
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
COST
Mid-Autumn Festival
October 3 - 4
10am – 5pm Cityline Sunnyvale -Downtown Sunnyvale
Free with RSVP
Hands on the Arts Festival
October 17
10am – 3pm Sunnyvale Community Center
Free
EVENT
DATE
TIME
LOCATION
COST
Kings Mountain Art Fair
September 5 - 7
Artist Booths: 10am – 5pm
Kings Mountain Community Center
Free
Fleurs de Villes: The Gilded Age
September 9 18
Varies
Filoli
$65+
Nightfall at Filoli
September 26 – November 1
5:30 – 10pm
Filoli
$55+
Woodside International FEI
October 14 - 18
8:30am – 6pm
The Horse Park at Woodside
Tickets on Sale
S UNNY VA L E
WOOD SI D E