Hillsborough

Hillsborough Heights

Hillsborough Heights is home to some of the most exclusive and stately homes in Hillsborough

Hillsborough Heights’ name isn’t entirely accurate. Most of the neighborhood lies in the region informally called “Lower Hillsborough” by locals, who value its proximity to shopping, restaurants and commute corridors. Hillsborough Heights’ eastern border, in fact, is only two blocks from El Camino Real and within easy walking distance of downtown San Mateo.

Hillsborough Heights real estate predates many of its neighboring housing inventories. A significant percentage of homes were built prior to World War II. Their classic styles – Mediterranean, Tudor, French and Beaux Arts – give the neighborhood an abundance of old world dignity. With its flat, tree-lined streets and large (most homes have at least four bedrooms and upwards of 4,000 square feet of living space), vintage homes, Hillsborough Heights resembles nearby San Mateo Park – another long-established, leafy residential neighborhood – only with the advantage of access to Hillsborough’s public schools, which consistently rank among the best in California.

Hillsborough Heights saw a 41% increase in average home value in 2021, bumping it from Lower Hillsborough’s most affordable neighborhood to the middle of its pack. After notching a $4.74 million average in 2020, homes here sold for $6.707 million this year (median of $6.125 million) and did so while increasing price per square foot from $1,287 to $1,412. These gains are likely the result of Hillsborough Heights continuing increased popularity among buyers. After averaging a little over eight sales each year from 2016 to 2019, this one-time entry-level neighborhood logged 11 sales in 2020 and 14 in 2021.


To view a detailed google map of the Hillsborough Heights neighborhood, click here. The MLS area is 440.


Favorable

  • Beautiful, flat and tree-lined streets

  • Bigger and diverse styles of homes, including classic vintage homes

  • Close proximity to shopping and restaurants

  • Walking distance to downtown San Mateo


Adverse

  • Entry price to the neighborhood is high, with many homes selling over $10 million


  • 301

    Homes

  • $4.65M

    Median Sale Price

  • $4.65M

    Average Sale Price

Pricing data based on single-family homes

Hillsborough Heights on the Map

Hillsborough Real Estate Market Review

In my 12th annual review of the Hillsborough residential real estate market, I examine 2023 market trends and relevant sales statistics. You'll learn first-hand what’s happening in your neighborhood.

Schools & History

Schools

Hillsborough Heights is served by South Hillsborough Elementary, located in Brewer Subdivision neighborhood on El Cerrito Avenue. It is about an 8 minute walk from Hillsborough Heights.

There is one public middle school in Hillsborough, Crocker Middle School, which is located in the Country Club Manor neighborhood on Ralston Avenue. It’s a 6 minute drive from Hillsborough Heights.

Hillsborough does not have its own public high school. Most of the residents in the neighborhood attend San Mateo High School, located in Bowie Estate neighborhood in San Mateo. To search a high school by a specific address using a School Locator, click here.

History

Hillsborough Heights emerged out of land once owned by early Hillsborough pioneer William Davis Merry Howard. His 6,000-acre San Mateo Rancho included “El Cerrito,” his private mansion. The rancho was sold in pieces in the late 1860s then further divided with the breakup of Hillsborough’s original estates. Development of custom homes began in the 1920s and 1930s, attracting the likes of William Randolph Hearst, who raised his daughter Patty at 233 W. Santa Inez Avenue, in Hillsborough Heights. Development continued piecemeal through the 1960s and, in a sense, is still going on today as some buyers replace their homes with new residences – some of which approach the size and grandeur of the originals.

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