Silicon Valley claims 4 of 5 priciest U.S. housing markets

The Silicon Valley cities of Los Altos, Saratoga, Redwood City and Los Gatos all rank among the top five most expensive U.S. housing markets, according to a new report.

Coldwell Banker Real Estate studied 51,000 four-bedroom, two-bathroom homes in 2,000 cities across the country, which pinpointed a total of eight Bay Area cities among the 10 priciest markets nationwide.

The staggering average prices for the top Silicon Valley locales:

1. Los Altos: $1.9 million

3. Saratoga: $1.8 million

4. Redwood City: $1.4 million

5. Los Gatos: $1.3 million

As I have reported, extreme upward pressure on regional housing prices has resulted in large part from rapid job growth and a dearth of housing supply in the region. Renters, too, now face monthly housing costs of $2,500-$3,000 a month in many areas.

Last year alone, for instance, the region added 114,000 jobs and just over 7,000 housing units — a reflection of high building costs, messy development politics and huge funding cuts for traditional subsidized affordable housing units.

As far as nationwide perspective, the average four-bedroom home in Los Altos costs roughly 30 times more than its counterpart in the rust belt city of Cleveland, Ohio. It's also worth noting that the metric of four-bedroom homes likely doesn't account for shifts toward smaller owner-occupied housing units, like one- and two-bedroom condos or town homes popping up in more urban areas.

The housing sticker shock in locales near wealthy Silicon Valley tech hubs like Palo Alto may be unsurprising, but a glance a little farther down the list reveals more jarring regional trends.

Lauren Hepler is the economic development reporter at the Silicon Valley Business Journal.