Silicon Valley developer market — July 2026
This is the monthly read on where the teardown, spec-build, and value-add opportunity is concentrated across Silicon Valley — the San Mateo County Peninsula and the South Bay (Santa Clara County, including San Jose). We track what the dirt is selling for, where demolition and new-construction permits are clustering, and which live listings pencil after demo-and-rebuild costs are netted out.
Where the activity is. Across the 23 Peninsula cities with published stats this cycle, builders pulled 5 demolition and 45 new-construction permits. San Mateo led on combined teardown + new-build activity; Burlingame ran the hottest at ~106% of list.
What the dirt costs. Recent land buys set the basis: a 1,485 sqft home in San Mateo on a 10,604 sqft lot traded at ~$240/lot-sqft. Builders here are buying dirt and entitlements, not houses.
This month's opportunities. We surfaced 10 live plays that pencil after demolition and new-build costs — ranked by estimated developer ROI and teardown score. The full list with street addresses is below (free with email). Scores are model estimates, not appraisals.