The Ventura neighborhood has some of the least expensive homes in Palo Alto. It has some great attributes, but is also close to the train, has had more environmental clean up issues, and the houses tend to be smaller. But as I said it is more affrdable than other parts of PA so is often a great choice for people trying to get into the PA market. Also, there are some very nice new homes off Meadow that have just een completed so it is a place where you can get a new home for less.
Marcy

What about on the other side of alma - Park and its tributaries like Wilton etc. There are some homes that are listed recently.

I wanted to add to what Marcy has said. Home values reflect the desirability of the home and, although Marcy didn't directly say this, homes that appeal to a larger audience tend to sell and hold higher prices. We can all agree tastes will vary widely among buyers and sellers but the overall buyer market for some homes are much smaller than for others.

A great example are spec homes. These homes are built to appeal to a wide audience of today's buyer. Although location, floor plan, level of amenities,...etc. will differ among these homes, they can give you a good sense of what a majority of buyers are looking for in their ideal or dream home. Take an objective look at your home and see what features and styles your home does or does not have in comparison to some of the spec homes. When you find that your home does not have many common elements, it is usually a sign that your home has a limited market.

If it comes down to a matter of location, two identical spec homes will generally sell for different values if one is located deep in the neighborhood and the other on a busy street (or backing up to a busy street). In my experience, if the two homes were priced the same, anyone in their right mind would buy the home deep in the neighborhood. There are fewer people willing to live near or on a busy street and they will require a discount to buy such a home if they are willing to sacrifice their location.

Mindy,
If the house were new the price difference between South Court and Ramona north of Loma Verde would probably not be different. However, for re-sale homes pitched roof ranches and cottages have traditionally sold for more money than flat roof homes. It is not just the roof line that is different in these homes, but the quality of the origingal construction. But back to the point about price for a new home, I think if you go to Emerson, or the part of Ramona that is across the street from the apartments then you would get less.

Marcy

First of all, thanks to both Marcy and Claire for your replies. I agree with Marcy regarding the noise being heard all over PA. I also agree that the streetscapes on Emerson and Ramona are different due to Stern and Price houses here. But houses on Bryant, nicer? That is hard for me to digest, especially because those houses look no nicer than the houses on Ramona except they are ranch style with pitched roofs.

And, if you have been to one of those "fake eichlers" then you would actually love the way they are laid out, with a courtyard-like space usable as outdoor patio. I have seen a few of these houses during open houses. In comparison the ranch houses on Bryant etc are quite cookie cutter.

Once again, I do not want to argue with Marcy. I am just drawing attention to the fact that tastes differ widely. Also, the midtown face is certainly changing what with people tearing down and building new two story homes that have a better curb appeal; so "look" issue is at best temporary.

Since I am really trying to understand this pricing difference phenomenon, if curb appeal was the only issue, would a new Mediterranean house on Ramona get the same price as the same one on South Court, all things being equal?

Mindy,

Have you been on Emerson when a train goes by? It's very loud. Having to listen to that every day at all hours 365 days a year is definitely something that would scare away a lot of buyers. I think this is why houses on the streets close to the tracks sell at a discount.

It looks like some sellers on Emerson and Ramona are now hoping to get 2006-07 prices. AND they're also hoping that there is no discount compared to their neighbors on all those nice streets Marcy mentioned (that are further from the tracks). I think there is no way that they are going to sell at anything close to those asking prices. In fact, a few already been on the market for months. So you think the sellers would have caught on by now. Hope springs eternal, I guess.

Mindy,
As a midtown resident and realtor I can tell you the lower prices on Emerson and Ramona are not in your imagination. There are several reasons for this in addition to the train issue. The noise from the train is louder on Emerson but you can hear it all over Palo Alto so while there is a little discount for that it is not the only thing. The style of home on both Emerson and Ramona is also a factor. Many of those homes are fake Eichlers, that is they are contempory style homes but do not have the flow of an Eichler so you get that cheap look on the outside without the wonderful flow inside. Once you get to Bryant street many of the homes were built by Roger Kohler Senior, father of PA architect Roger Kohler and are nicer homes. the third issue is that there are a lot of apartments on Emerson and that can bring down the price as well.
In my opinion the best streets are Bryant, South Court, Waverley, and Cowper and the little tributary streets close by like Flowers, McCall, Kipling,
Marcy
Maqrcy