Masters of the Universe: ‘Unassuming’ Silicon Valley Home Shatters Record with $2 Million Sales Price

US tax overhaul could see $2.0 trillion repatriated: UN
AFP

Houses in Sunnyvale, California, are selling for record multi-million dollar prices due to their proximity to Silicon Valley jobs, according to a report. The latest is a 648 square foot house sold in two days for $2 million.

A “small, unassuming home in the Cherry Chase neighborhood,” of Sunnyvale, California, which has two bedrooms, a total of 648 square feet in living space, and was described as “nothing particularly breathtaking,” sold for $2 million recently, despite the fact that the asking price was $550,000 less.

“It sold for the highest square-foot price recorded in Sunnyvale — a stunning $2,358, according to MLSListings, which tracks homes sales going back to 2000,” reported Mercury News, who claimed that the “jaw-dropping price tag suggests Sunnyvale, which has traditionally been less expensive than neighboring cities Cupertino or Palo Alto, is becoming a real estate destination in itself.”

“As prices continue to increase throughout the Bay Area, pushing out even some highly paid tech workers, experts say more residents are flocking to relatively affordable Sunnyvale, driving up prices there,” they explained. “Sunnyvale has become popular in part because of its proximity to Silicon Valley’s tech jobs, said realtor James Morris of James Morris Homes, which has offices in San Jose and Saratoga. LinkedIn is headquartered in the city, Apple is just next door in Cupertino, and Google is on the other side in Mountain View. Millennials don’t want to endure long commutes on the Bay Area’s clogged freeways.”

According to the report, the average house in Sunnyvale now sells for 28 percent over its listed price.

“They will pay that premium to be close to their jobs and not have to drive,” declared realtor James Morris.

In June, it was reported that the average sales price of a home in Silicon Valley was up 6.4 percent, while in 2015, 11.3 percent of Bay Area residents were revealed to be living at or below the poverty line.

The high cost of living has pushed people into leaving their San Francisco jobs, as even tech workers on six-figure salaries have started to complain about “scraping by.”

In a 2017 Guardian article, one Silicon Valley employee complained that his six-figure salary was “pretty bad” for the area, and declared, “I didn’t become a software engineer to be trying to make ends meet… Families are priced out of the market.”

“The biggest cost is his $3,000 rent – which he said was ‘ultra cheap’ for the area – for a two-bedroom house in San Francisco, where he lives with his wife and two kids,” reported the Guardian in their article. “He’d like a slightly bigger property, but finds himself competing with groups of twentysomethings happy to share accommodation while paying up to $2,000 for a single room.”

The Guardian also reported on other Silicon Valley employees who were receiving incomes “between $100,000 and $700,000 a year” but still allegedly had trouble “making ends meet.”

“One Apple employee was recently living in a Santa Cruz garage, using a compost bucket as a toilet. Another tech worker, enrolled in a coding bootcamp, described how he lived with 12 other engineers in a two-bedroom apartment rented via Airbnb,” they revealed.

“It was $1,100 for a fucking bunk bed and five people in the same room. One guy was living in a closet, paying $1,400 for a ‘private room,’” one worker complained, while a female employee added, “We make over $1m between us, but we can’t afford a house… This is part of where the American dream is not working out here.”

In 2016, Breitbart News reported on a 24-year-old Silicon Valley software engineerwho opted to live in a converted Ford box truck, instead of paying high prices for an apartment in the surrounding areas.

Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington, or like his page at Facebook.

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.