Shallow Alto, Shallow Wallet

Big surprise. Coldwell Banker released the results of their national survey of home prices. Eight of the top twenty cities nationwide with the most expensive housing markets are located right here in the Bay Area: Palo Alto (4), San Mateo (7), San Francisco (8), Oakland Hills/Montclair (15), San Jose (16), Santa Cruz (18), Fremont (19), and Pleasanton (20) (link here). A typical home in Palo Alto averages $1.21 million. Insane. The top ten is comprised almost entirely of California cities with La Jolla (1), Beverly Hills (2), and Santa Barbara (3) heading up the list. With the severe budget issues plaguing state and local governments in California, the high assessment of home values is a necessary lifeline. The question is will the revenue generated by high property taxes help counties work their way through the budget mess. And what happens when valuations, i.e., home prices, begin to fall. Oye.