Amalia Otet The home of some of the country’s most prominent tech companies is also home to the most expensive residential real estate in the nation.
Silicon Valley continues to see increased demand for high-end single-family homes, with zip code 94027 in Atherton, CA standing out as the area’s most expensive place to buy. In fact, according to San Francisco Curbed, 7 out of the 71 billionaires who reside in the Bay Area have a primary residence in Atherton.
To see which Silicon Valley zip codes attract the most affluent buyers, we went through the 2014 sales data and we’re ready to reveal the area’s 20 most expensive zip codes.
The 20 most expensive zip codes in Silicon Valley were either in Santa Clara or San Mateo counties: 12 were in San Mateo, while 8 were in Santa Clara. The area’s real estate is on fire thanks to top sales in towns like Palo Alto, Woodside, Los Altos and Atherton.
Zip code 94027 in Atherton clinched the top spot with a median sale price of $3,900,000. The swanky town in the heart of Silicon Valley is a unique community – a perfect blend of thoughtfully designed neighborhoods, beautiful mansions, gorgeous natural settings, top-rated schools, and first-class amenities.
The location is one of the big draws of Atherton. Just a stone’s throw away from Menlo Park and Palo Alto, which many tech giants call home, including Facebook, Google, Oracle, and Apple, Atherton offers residents a convenient commute. Another advantage it has over other prestigious locations is its relatively relaxed building regulations, according to Forbes, which ranked Atherton’s 94027 zip code as the most expensive not only in California but in the entire country. The exclusive residential enclave is home to several of the tech industry’s top executives, including Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, Google chairman Eric Schmidt, and HP CEO Meg Whitman.
Two zip codes in Los Altos Hills – 94022 and 94024 – took second and third positions respectively. A beautiful mix of rolling hills and picturesque valleys, Los Altos Hills holds some of the most attractive and best-valued properties in The Peninsula. Homes in both zip codes increased 17% from 2013: 94022 had a median sale price of $2,450,000 while 94024 saw the median sale price hit $2,200,000 in 2014.
Zip code 94024 was closely followed by 94301 in Palo Alto which registered the same median sale price – $2,200,000. However, the median sale price of the latter grew by an astounding 50% year-over-year, up from $1,470,000 in 2013.
In fact, the city known as the “Birthplace of the Silicon Valley” saw some of last year’s biggest residential transactions, including the sale of a superb estate at 215 Lowell Avenue in Palo Alto which changed hands for $19,880,000.
Median sale prices in the the top 20 zip codes went up, except for 94025 in Menlo Park where the median sale price remained flat year-over-year ($1,350,000 in 2014, unchanged from 2013) and 94028 in Portola Valley which saw a 4% drop in median sale prices.
Here is the complete list of Silicon Valley’s top 20 priciest zip codes:
The 20 Most Expensive Zip Codes in Silicon Valley
| No. | Zip Code | County | City/Town | Median Sale Price 2014 | Median Sale Price 2013 | 2014 vs. 2013 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 94027 | San Mateo | Atherton | $3,900,000 | $3,750,000 | 4% |
| 2 | 94022 | Santa Clara | Los Altos Hills | $2,450,000 | $2,087,000 | 17% |
| 3 | 94024 | Santa Clara | Los Altos Hills | $2,200,000 | $1,872,500 | 17% |
| 4 | 94301 | Santa Clara | Palo Alto | $2,200,000 | $1,470,000 | 50% |
| 5 | 94028 | San Mateo | Portola Valley | $2,135,500 | $2,225,000 | -4% |
| 6 | 94010 | San Mateo | Hillsborough | $1,878,250 | $1,701,000 | 10% |
| 7 | 94306 | Santa Clara | Palo Alto | $1,860,000 | $1,559,727 | 19% |
| 8 | 95070< | Santa Clara | Saratoga | $1,805,000 | $1,560,000 | 16% |
| 9 | 95030 | Santa Clara | Los Gatos | $1,800,000 | $1,650,000 | 9% |
| 10 | 95014 | Santa Clara | Cupertino | $1,418,500 | $1,200,000 | 18% |
| 11 | 94062 | San Mateo | Redwood City | $1,370,000 | $1,349,000 | 2% |
| 12 | 94025 | San Mateo | Menlo Park | $1,350,000 | $1,351,000 | 0% |
| 13 | 94040 | Santa Clara | Mountain View | $1,290,000 | $1,012,500 | 27% |
| 14 | 94087 | Santa Clara | Sunnyvale | $1,252,750 | $1,080,000 | 16% |
| 15 | 94402 | San Mateo | San Mateo | $1,237,500 | $941,920 | 31% |
| 16 | 95032 | Santa Clara | Los Gatos | $1,211,250 | $1,100,000 | 10% |
| 17 | 94070 | San Mateo | San Carlos | $1,210,000 | $1,050,000 | 15% |
| 18 | 94002 | San Mateo | Belmont | $1,200,000 | $1,030,000 | 17% |
| 19 | 94041 | Santa Clara | Mountain View | $1,200,000 | $1,040,000 | 15% |
| 20 | 95120 | Santa Clara | San Jose | $1,170,000 | $990,000 | 18% |
Want more insight on Silicon Valley’s real estate market? Have a look at Santa Clara County’s top 10 largest commercial real estate deals of 2014.
