patrick.net

Who cares? It is a generally overrated place. The only people really interested in it are the ones obsessed with school API scores. There is no sound logical reason to want to live there, unless you work at Apple & want to bike to work in under 15 minutes or something.

Also, don't assume that all of the Asian people you see there are Chinese nationals / foreigners. Many Chinese-Americans are naturalized- or born-citizens and also fluent in Mandarin and/or Cantonese. They certainly have a different mentality about school than the "typical white American," but they aren't necessarily FOBs.

Getting down to it the reason its expensive in Cupertino is that there are a lot of large tech companies in the area and there are probably enough well-paid people who work in those companies and also want to live close to work. As far as the area itself its not all that remarkable in any way so logically its less about its appearance and more about proximity. Frankly I'm fine with it being super expensive there because I really have no interest in living there anyway since I find the area boring and pedestrian. Thus those that do can have it alllll to themselves.

High demand and low inventory. Not sure about investments from foreign countries but it is a fact the majority of the homeowners are asians ( as somebody could be second/third generation. a major economic crisis in bay area could change it - i don't know

edvard2 says

Getting down to it the reason its expensive in Cupertino is that there are a lot of large tech companies in the area and there are probably enough well-paid people who work in those companies and also want to live close to work.

Over the years.. more in Santa Clara-Sunnyvale than Cupertino.
Most people commute from Fremont, and So San Jose. So Cupertino employers are not a factor. Many employers clearly have moved around the south bay every so 3-5 years, so close proximity isnt a factor either.

dellman says

a fact the majority of the homeowners are asians ( as somebody could be second/third generation. a major economic crisis in bay area could change it - i don't know

Was true even in the 80s and 90s. But that didnt stop prices from falling.

It's just different there.

thomas.wong1986 says

So Cupertino employers are not a factor.

Christ. Apple's R&D & SG&A was $3.3B in the MRQ. That was their total annual sales 10 years ago.

Thomas World must be a very interesting place.

To answer the question, there has been no housing stock add in 95014 in a very long time.

Prop 13 is a big give-away to long-time owners who want to hang onto the property and get some nice income.

While it's true it's a pretty sucky place to live, nicer places are more expensive, and less nicer places involve a commute and more exposure to crime.

One of the mistakes I made was trying to commute into Cupertino. Shoulda just bought a goddamn condo in Mt V and used the time saved better.

@bmwman91: I don't really care but I want to make the point that I think changing demographics and shifts can have a huge effect on housing prices. Just look at Cupertino in 1995 compared to Cupertino in 2010. Over a 15 year period, something drastic happened...

@Katy Perry: Dude (or girl), I'm not saying "it's just different", I'm listing reasons why I think the prices are so high in this "fortress" community. I'm not some housing shill or housing diehard, I just want to discuss other viewpoints besides "everyone who doesn't think housing will drop 59% in every area is a realtor bitch." Hope that makes sense.

Bellingham, I heard that the Bay Area in general is very anti-development. It's one of the reasons that the San Mateo green belt and preserve has lasted so long (prime real estate if developed). So I agree that lack of inventory makes it a simple supply problem when it comes to prices, or at least that's part of the explanation.

Does anyone know what Cupertino's price index or rental market was like 10 years ago? Was Cupertino even at rental parity 1998-2000?

Bellingham Bill says

Christ. Apple's R&D & SG&A was $3.3B in the MRQ. That was their total annual sales 10 years ago.
Thomas World must be a very interesting place.

Its been there a long time ago.. a freaking long time. Tandem was twice as big compared to Apple.. end of the day.. so what?

The picture will look much different in 5-10 years in Cupertino. Apple will also look different, not in a good way. Spin the wheel and take your chances. Good luck

Goran_K says

Over a 15 year period, something drastic happened...

Many outside of SV discovered they too can become 25 year old multi-millionairs ... so they moved here as if it was the 1848 California Gold Rush. So what happened in the year 2000. 5 Year ARM made sense if they were planning on winning the lotto by then.

thomas.wong1986 says

Tandem was twice as big compared to Apple.. end of the day.. so what?

End of the day the companies may go but the people stay.

The successful ones, at least.

Goran_K says

Does anyone know what Cupertino's price index or rental market was like 10 years ago?

10 years ago the valley was in a major down cycle, the occupancy ratio was falling and so were rents, and home prices were at best static on their post-dotcom plateaus.

But interest rates were falling in 2002 which provided immense price support, even before lending got totally whacky 2004-2006.

I remember walking around some Cupertino nabes 10 years ago and it seemed a bit dead, really. Google's IPO was still a year out (not that Google had any presence in Cupertino). Symantec was doing OK but other there wasn't any apparent dynamism anywhere. Just the dotcom hangover.

Sun was there in some presence but spinning down their operations.

Cupertino itself is kinda a horrid place. Not as bad as Sunnyvale, but that's not saying much.

All the cool kids at Apple lived in the city and carpooled down 280 every day, LOL.