San Jose median home price reaches $2 million as housing advocates continue push for affordable housing
SAN JOSE, Calif. - Local housing advocates say they’re going to re-strategize after the $20 billion Bay Area affordable housing measure was removed from November's ballot. This comes just as the median home price in San Jose reaches $2 million.
"You might have to settle for something you don’t quite like, but it’s something that you can afford," said Deepa Kurseja, a recent homeowner in the Bay Area.
Some home buyers in the Bay Area say now it’s even more challenging to buy a house as interest rates and home prices continue to rise. Girish Nagasandra says he wants to buy a home but thought prices would come down in the Bay Area, especially after the pandemic.
"The prices have been going up right before my eyes. So, I don’t know, I’ll probably wait another six months to a year and then make the call," said Nagasandra.
This week, the National Association of REALTORS reported the median home price in San Jose is now, for the first time, more than $2 million. Long-time Bay Area real estate agent Yogi Sharma, with Realty One Group Future, says high-paying tech jobs in Silicon Valley play a big role in home prices.
"There are some areas in San Jose that are more expensive than Los Angeles or San Francisco. San Jose is a big city, there are multiple zip codes. It’s Silicon Valley, right there in the middle of everything," said Sharma.
Deepa Kurseja says she bought her primary home in the Bay Area two years ago and says your first home doesn’t need to be your dream home.
"Start small. Look for maybe a smaller space, a townhouse. Maybe a condo that you can afford," said Kurseja.
But local housing advocates say most people still can’t afford to buy Bay Area properties, and with the $20 billion Bay Area housing measure now off the table, they believe the housing crisis will only get worse.
"We have a homelessness crisis in the Bay Area and people who think we can solve this homelessness crisis without new permanent affordable housing just simply don’t understand how the system works," said Sandy Perry, Vice President of South Bay Community Land Trust.
Perry says advocates will now focus on changing the voting requirements that will make it easier to pass housing bonds by supporting Proposition 5 in November.
There is also some promising news for home buyers. Interest rates have dropped to their lowest level since last year.
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