Seven Hills

The Seven Hills neighborhood of Union City is hardly filled with Roman villas, as you might expect given the name. It is, however, in one of nicer parts of Union City, nestled up against the hillside. The neighborhood is predominantly made up of Ranch homes with a smattering of newer contemporary style homes mixed in for good measure.

Despite the relatively nice views out over Union City to the bay, most homes remain solidly in the $325K to $450K range. (The median home price here is $425K.) The most expensive home to have sold here in the last year was renovated 3000 ft 1979 home that has last sold in 2002 for $250K. It sold in last month for $782 K and change. Yet another sign that the Bay Area housing market is heating up.

Despite the hilly views and the Mediterranean theme to the street naming that suggests this was meant as a posh neighborhood (streets have names like Monaco, Riviera etc.), the Seven Hills neighborhood is pretty uneven, with some pretty unkept homes next to homes that could be in the burbs to the east of here.

There are also a ton of condos that have recently sold along Veneto Street down by Mission Blvd. (The median price is $200K.) These are Reagan Era deals, which sort of look their age to me. The low price is tempting but the I’m not sure they will hold their value. They really do feel more like apartments than condos--more places to rent than place to buy.

The schools here are slightly a mixed bag too. Both the elementary school, Guy Emanuele and the high school, Logan, are solidly average. Unfortunately the middle school, Cesar Chavez, is solidly below average.

Despite this however, this is pretty good spot for commuters into San Jose or even the Peninsula or SF--an especially good spot for couples whose jobs are in disparate parts of the Bay Area. One of the few affordable places that is still within reach of the more expensive areas.