Geek's Number Talk: Gallons of Savings

Did you know? Californians use an average of 196 gallons of water per day, and I guarantee most of us don’t drink more than half a gallon a day. So where does all that other water go?

Well, at least half our household water is used outdoors, so we can start by following the mandate from the County to cut our lawn watering down to two days a week. It’s also important to check your house for leaks, which cost the average American household 27 to 90 gallons of water each day.

Get more tips for reaching your 15% reduction goal.

Geek's Number Talk: San Mateo County Market Snapshot - March 2022

First-time homebuyers in San Mateo County finally found a silver lining in March, as condo sales actually outpaced activity from the same month one year ago by 9%, while median sales prices only inched up 5%.

Unfortunately, it’s still a hot and fast market, with properties barely having time to marinade before the bidding wars begin. And if you’re looking for a detached house, be ready to spend at least $2M to get into the game.

Geek's Number Talk: Santa Clara County Market Snapshot - Feb. 2022

The Santa Clara County market continues to heat up. House inventory in February was down 17% from one year ago. Consequently, properties are staying on the market half as long and selling at 23% higher rates. The window of opportunity is open slightly wider for condos, but not by much.

Long story short: If you’re considering putting a property on the market, it’s go time!

Geek's Number Talk: Is the interest rate party over?

While interest rates on 30-year fixed loans are a fraction of what they were 30 years ago, a recent spike has average rates up 50% since December and nearly double the all-time low of January 2021.

This could be explained as a reaction to inflation, but it’s hard to ignore the trends…

Geek's Number Talk: Not-so wide open spaces

As urban dwellers, we’ve learned to love and appreciate parks, trails, and opportunities to get outside and enjoy nature. That’s why we’re constantly looking for ways to protect open spaces while still finding ways to build adequate housing for our growing population. And in some cases, it’s a costly endeavor that has a direct impact on housing costs.

As you can see from this chart, while a county like San Francisco only preserves about 5,900 acres of open space, that represents almost 20% of their available land, exponentially increasing the price of the remaining real estate. On the flip side, Sonoma County preserves a whopping 171K acres of open space, but that’s just 17% of its abundant available land.