By Clyde Noel

One of the side effects of the tragic events of last Sept. 11 has been an increased desire for families to own a home.

Even in the face of a stagnant economy, the desire has resulted in Bay Area home prices setting another record, with the median price for the nine Bay Area counties at $417,000. The number of homes sold in Santa Clara County increased 20 percent, and the median price was $476,000.

Those figures don’t seem realistic when Los Altos Hills has 47 homes for sale with the lowest price at $1,599,000 and Los Altos has 88 single-family homes listed with the lowest price at $860,000.

“Buyers looking for premium homes are more cautious when they spend their money in the upper end of the market,” said George Monaco, vice president and manager of Cashin Company office in Los Altos. “Buyers don’t have stock option money to use, so we have a new set of buyers.”

“People are on hold for obvious reasons. Buyers have money and are waiting to see what the economy will do,” said Gary Campi of Campi Properties. “If the property is unique, it’s getting action at the high end.”

Campi Properties is known for working high-end properties and has sold three in Los Altos in the past week.

Fred Hibbert, manager of Coldwell Banker on First Street, reminds buyers that prices in Los Altos Hills went up 80 percent in 2000, which is an incredible increase for a home.

“Sure prices on high-end properties have come down 20 percent to 40 percent, but they are still up more than 40 percent from 1999,” Hibbert said. “Anything under 1 million will go real fast in Los Altos.”

Jane Bigelow, manager of Coldwell Banker on San Antonio Road, said the real estate market is healthy, and she is surprised with the concern that so many houses are on the market.

“It’s a buyers market. There are a lot of choices out there, but the sophisticated investors know what they want,” Bigelow said. “In Los Altos, 23 percent of the homes are pending for sale right now, and in the Hills 5 percent are pending.”

Bigelow said many homes are showing with contingencies, but the market is still healthy.

Ron Labetich owns his own company and handles commercial real estate. “Commercial real estate is going through a big change. Prices have dropped 20 percent,” Labetich said. “There’s a demand for small office space of 1,000 to 1,500 square feet but none for the 4,000-square-foot spaces.”

“I have people looking at small retail spaces and requests for retail store space,” said Mary Prochnow, a commercial and residential broker.