Apparently newfound Google wealth has created a bidding frenzy in Atherton. According to the RealEstateTimes, “More than half a dozen Google employees have bought Atherton houses for between $3.5 million and $17.8 million since September.” And one local broker estimates that “25% to 35% of recent upper-end home sales, meaning sales over $7 million, are from Google people.” Perhaps the commute is keeping them out of the city.
And although it’s only loosely real estate related, what really caught our eye was the following:
In November, Omid Kordestani, a senior vice president of Google, paid $17.8 million for a 16,000-square-foot Atherton house…Mr. Kordestani, who owned 1.79 million Google shares valued at $537 million as of late June, has sold 1.4 million Google shares, for approximately $259 million, since late last year, according to SEC filings and Thomson Financial.
Having a senior executive sell 43% of his holdings isn’t exactly a strong vote of confidence in the company. (Something tells us our Google ranking is about to slip…)
· Look Out for Googlers If Buying in Atherton, Calif. [RealEstateJournal]