learnlive from the mls180 days of salesboyenga team at compass
Price per square foot, street by street
Every sale in a city over the last 180 days, plotted where it happened and shaded by what it sold for per square foot, live from the MLS. Homes for sale sit on top, each one checked against the sales closest to it.
- sales mapped…last 180 days
- median $ per sq ft…of the sales mapped
- darkest fifth starts at…per sq ft (80th percentile)
- for sale now…orange rings
the map
Every sale in Sunnyvale, shaded by price per square foot
Each dot is a sale, shaded by its price per square foot: the darkest fifth of sales got the most per foot, the lightest fifth the least. Orange rings are homes for sale now, filled with their asking price per foot on the same scale. Black squares are Caltrain, BART and VTA light rail stations, and the faint lines are a distance grid sized by the scale bar.
Hover over or tap a dot for its numbers; select a ring to open the listing. Where a city has more than 150 homes for sale, the rings start hidden so the sales stay readable; the Homes for sale button shows them. Grid squares show the median price per square foot of the sales inside each square, where at least 3 sales fall. The five shades are set fresh for each city and home type, so the same shade means different dollars in different cities.
asking vs. the street
Homes for sale against the sales around them
For each home for sale, the page finds the 10 closest sales of the same type within a mile (houses with houses, condos and townhomes with each other) and compares the asking price per square foot with their median. It’s a quick read on where a list price sits against the street, not a value.
| home for sale | type | asking | asking $/sq ft | nearby sales $/sq ft | difference |
|---|
Asking $ per sq ft = list price ÷ listed living area. Nearby sales = the 10 closest sales of the same type in the last 180 days within one mile; listings with fewer than 5 such sales are left out. A listing above its neighbors may be larger, newer, remodeled or on a bigger lot; one below may need work or sit on a smaller lot. Use the gap to decide which questions to ask.
distance to rail
Price per square foot by distance to rail in Sunnyvale
Sales grouped by straight-line distance to the nearest Caltrain, BART or VTA light rail station. Pick Houses or Condos and townhomes above to compare like with like, since condos and townhomes tend to cluster near stations.
| to the nearest station | sales | median $/sq ft | median price | median sq ft | houses |
|---|
Too few sales in this filter sit at different distances from a station to compare. Try All homes, or another city.
Straight-line distance from each sale’s map position to the nearest station, not walking distance; Caltrain stops with limited or weekend-only service are included. The table shows how prices line up with distance, not that a station causes them: lot sizes, home ages and the mix of homes also change with distance. Grayed rows have fewer than 10 sales.
the nerd check
Read the map like a Property Nerd
If you’re buying
- Read the shade, then the saleA dark dot on a light street is a sale worth opening. Ask what made it different: size, lot, remodel, view or a bidding war.
- Bigger homes cost less per footLarger homes usually sell for less per square foot than smaller ones nearby, so compare homes of similar size before calling one a deal.
- Check the asking gap before you writeA listing priced well below its neighbors per foot can still draw a bidding war, and one well above may be a different kind of home. The Offer Lab walks through how to read both.
- Ask for the sales behind the shadeWe can pull the sales closest to a home you like, with photos and what each sold for against its list price.
If you’re selling
- Find your street’s shadeWhere your block sits on the map is a first read on price per foot, before condition, lot and layout are counted.
- Price against the right neighborsYour nearest sales of the same type matter more than the city median. The asking table shows how today’s listings compare with theirs.
- Square footage drives the mathBuyers and appraisers divide by the living area on record, so make sure your listing shows the right figure and where it came from.
- Prep shows up per footTwo similar homes on one street can land in different shades. The Prep Lab covers what to fix and what to leave before you list.
Price per square foot is a blunt tool: it leaves out lot size, condition, layout and views, and it falls as homes get bigger. The map is best for spotting patterns and questions. For a price on a specific home, the closest truly comparable sales still decide it, and we’re glad to pull them.
questions
Questions we hear
Where do the dots come from?
Homes sold in the city over the last 180 days, from the MLS through our IDX feeds, read live each time the page loads. Repeat records from different feeds are removed. Houses, condos and townhomes are included; land, multi-unit buildings and mobile homes are left out.
Why are some sales missing?
A sale needs a map position and a living area to be plotted, and some records arrive without one or the other. A few with positions far outside the city are left off as likely errors. The note under the map gives the count for the city and home type you picked.
How are the shades set?
The sales on the map are split into five equal groups by price per square foot, within the city and home type you picked. The darkest shade in Gilroy and in Palo Alto stands for different dollar amounts; the legend lists each range.
What do the orange rings mean?
Homes for sale now. Each ring is filled with the same five shades, based on its asking price per square foot, so a dark ring among light dots is asking more per foot than the sales around it; in grid view the rings are left open so the squares show through. Select a ring to open the listing.
How does the asking comparison work?
For each listing, the page finds the 10 closest sales of the same type within one mile and takes their median price per square foot. The difference is the listing’s asking price per foot against that median. Listings with fewer than 5 such sales nearby are left out.
Is the map a home value?
No. It’s a picture of recent sales and current asking prices. Price per square foot leaves out lot size, condition, layout and views, so it isn’t an appraisal or a value for any home.
Why does price per square foot drop for bigger homes?
Part of a home’s price, like the land, the kitchen and the bathrooms, doesn’t grow with every added foot, so larger homes usually sell for less per square foot than smaller ones nearby. Compare homes of similar size.
What does the rail table show?
Median price per square foot of the sales on the map, grouped by straight-line distance to the nearest Caltrain, BART or VTA light rail station. It shows how prices line up with distance, not that rail causes the difference.
more to learn
Keep going
- Neighborhood RankingThe same 180 days of sales, summed up by neighborhood guide and ranked by median price per square foot.
- Market MapEvery city on one map: price per foot, bidding and change from a year ago.
- Price LadderEntry, middle and top-end prices in every city, from 12 months of sales.
- Lot Value LabWhat an added 1,000 sq ft of lot and 100 sq ft of house sold for, city by city, from 180 days of house sales.
- Bedroom MathWhat each added bedroom costs, city by city, from 180 days of sales.
- What $1 Million BuysSquare feet per $1M (or your budget) in every city, 2012 against now.
- Homes Near CaltrainHomes for sale around every Caltrain station.
- Offer LabHow to read a list price and shape an offer.
- Price-Cut RadarHomes for sale that have cut their price, by city.
Based on sales and listings reported to the MLS through our IDX feeds, read live each time the page loads. Shown as reported and not guaranteed; repeat records are removed. Map positions, living areas and home types are as listed. Station locations from Caltrain, BART and VTA.
talk to a property nerd
Want the sales behind a dot?
We’ll pull the closest sales to a home you like, or to your own, and walk you through what they say about price. Commissions are negotiable, and we offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.
