Facebook Causing Massive Local Real Estate Bump?

Home prices in Palo Alto have skyrocketed up to 60 percent in the last six months due in large part to Facebook's expansion, according to Business Insider.

That jump was based on the testimony of a local home owner, and is not an official estimate, but the homeowner pointed to a recent sale on Lincoln Avenue that jumped from $1.6 million to $2.1 million as evidence of the trend.

Facebook employees are swarming the real estate market, often offering to pay cash and going out of their way to let sellers know where they work, according to Business Insider.

Patch columnist Lisen Stromberg experienced this firsthand herself, writing about an incident in April 2011 in which a senior Facebook executive's agent . Stromberg offered it to him for $6 million.

"Without even batting an eyelash, he said, “I’ll talk to my client and let you know.” Then he walked off to find the next willing seller, said Stromberg.

Facebook's IPO is certainly adding pressure to the home-buying situation, according to a realtor in Menlo Park who spoke to the Mercury News.

"What we're seeing is just the possibility of a large IPO is creating a real sense of urgency in our market, both for buyers and for sellers," Omar Kinaan, of Re/Max Distinctive Properties in Menlo Park, told the Merc.

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