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Housing Housing Costs Definition: Housing costs in Redwood City are measured as the median home price and the median rental price. The median value is the amount in the middle. Fifty percent of units are above the median and 50 percent are below. Why is it important? Housing is one of three fundamental necessi- ties, along with food and clothing. A measure of the cost of housing is an integral part of the measurement of the cost of living in a specific community. How are we doing? In the latest data, the median home price in Redwood City was over $1 million and the me- dian rental rate was just under $4 thousand. These data indicate that Redwood City is one of the most expensive places in the Bay Area, California, and indeed the nation in which to seek shelter. Housing Costs in Redwood City Figure 20:Median Home Prices Figure 21:Median Rental Prices Home prices in Redwood City are high by re- gional standards. For much of the last 20 years, they were comparable to prices in San Mateo County and San Francisco. Over the course of the last several years, however, home price ap- preciation has accelerated in Redwood City rel- ative to those geographies, the Bay Area (rep- resented by the San Francisco MSA), Califor- nia and the nation. At the same time, apart- ment rents are lower and have been changing in line with the County and the city of San Fran- cisco. It is important to note that although no expert would declare an end to the housing crisis in Sil- icon Valley or the Bay Area, both home prices and rental rates have been declining for much of the last year. This comes at the same time that the broader Silicon Valley economy has cooled just a bit. Employment growth has been a strong contributor to home price increases. As employment growth slows, it stands to reason that increases in home prices and rents will also slow. 15