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One of the anchor cities of Silicon Valley, Sunnyvale, California, is a mostly suburban community in the San Francisco Bay area in Santa Clara County. It is a large city, home to a population of more than 130,000, and is home to the headquarters of many high-tech firms. The area has a high median annual income level of more than $87,000 in 2007, and home prices here are accordingly higher than in many areas of the country. The Sunnyvale real estate sector, of course, suffered greatly at the beginning of the economic downturn, when many residents lost their jobs and saw their asset values fall.

In the first quarter of the year, which includes the months of January, February and March, the city saw 190 new listings of Sunnyvale homes for sale and a total inventory at the end of the quarter of 149 homes for sale. These figures were both down from the first quarter of 2009, when the figures were 214 and 182, respectively. There were 96 single-familiy homes sold in Sunnyvale in the first quarter, up from 85 in 2009, and homes spent an average of just 43 days on the market this year in the first quarter before selling versus 77 days last year. Prices, however, are mixed with an increased average but a fall in the median. The average sales price in the first quarter was around $726,00, up from $625,000, but the median price stood at just $755,000, down from $1.2 million in 2009.

The market for Sunnyvale condos and townhomes showed similar trends. There were 103 new condos listed during the first quarter and the quarter ended with an inventory of 84 condos still on the market, down 16% from an inventory of 100 at the end of the first quarter in 2009. There were 40 condos sold in the quarter, an improvement from 34 a year ago, and homes spent an average of just 50 days on the market before selling in the first quarter of this year versus 87 days last year. Prices haven’t changed too much: The average sales price was $468,000, down from around $495,000 last year, and the median stood at $465,000, a slight improvement from last year’s $460,000.