Over the last few years, things have really changed for Redwood City. There was a noticeable change to downtown around 2006 when the movie theater was built and new businesses and restaurants started popping up. Around 2012-2013 when home prices started taking off, Redwood City really began getting traction. Restaurants like Martin’s West, Vesta, LV Mar, and Broadway Masala gave us some great dining options. Other favorites like Bliss Coffee, Philz, Backyard Coffee, Aili Ice Floral Design, The Biergarten, and Blacksmith definitely upped Redwood City’s cool factor.

Looking at the Peninsula, I would say the biggest and most diverse cities are San Mateo, Redwood City, and Mountain View. Redwood City is sandwiched in between San Carlos and Menlo Park and is almost a perfect midway point between San Francisco and San Jose. Year to date, per MLS, Redwood City is about 7% less expensive than San Carlos and 34% less expensive than Menlo Park on average. Redwood City doesn’t have as many high ranking schools as San Carlos and Menlo Park, which keeps homes prices lower. However, if you drive through parts of Redwood City like Edgewood Park/Wellesley Cresent, Mount Carmel, Horgan Ranch, or Farm Hill, the homes and views are completely on par with San Carlos or Menlo Park. Redwood City has some beautiful larger parcels and very charming areas that mirror what you might find in parts of Palo Alto, San Mateo Park, or Aragon.

In some of the more pricey parts of Redwood City, you might expect to pay $1.2-$1.6M for a two bedroom house and $1.6-$2.0M for a three bedroom house. Four and five bedroom houses on lots larger than 8,000 square feet are easily over $2.0M. A $2.2-$3.0M house in Redwood City could for as much as $2.5-$3.5M in San Carlos or $3-$4M in Menlo Park.

Let’s take a look at what a $2M house looks like in each of these cities:

Menlo Park

This 2 bedroom, 1 bath home at 1, 436 square feet was listed at $1,599,000 and sold for $1,940,600. When you break it down, the buyer paid $1,351.39 per square foot. On a 7,900 square foot lot in the Willows neighborhood, it’s close to great schools and offers an easy commute to places like Facebook and Stanford. The home had fresh paint, refinished hardwood floors, but still needs a considerable amount of work. A 2/1 isn’t practical for many families in the area, so it would likely need an addition, as well as remodeling. 

 

San Carlos

This 3 bedroom, 2 bath house at 1,650 square feet was listed at $1,498,000 and sold at $1,977,000. So that comes out to $1,198.18 per square foot. The home is updated and sits on a 7,000 square foot lot and has a detached studio space in the backyard. San Carlos is known for great schools and family friendly neighborhoods.

 

Redwood City

This 4 bedroom, 3 bath home at 1,890 square feet was listed at $1,628,00 and sold for $2,017,000, which comes out to $1,067.20 per square foot. The home is completely updated with an open floor plan and a spacious backyard on a 7,758 square foot lot. While the schools in Redwood City aren’t as good across the board as San Carlos and Menlo Park, this home is in the Farm Hills neighborhood, which is part of Roy Cloud, a K-8 school with an API score of 871.