The annual market report is out at popehandy.REReport.com and we can now learn how 2011 compared to 2010.  The median sales price for houses in Santa Clara County was off 5.3% overall.  But from one part of the valley to the next it varied wildly with 6 cities or areas finding themselves in positive territory while others were off by double digits.

In the image to the left, I’ve put into bold the cities where the median sales price of houses which sold and closed escrow in 2011 were ahead of 2010′s pricing.

What is it that makes Gilroy, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Mountain View and Palo Alto “in the black”?

Most of these cities/towns are upscale, west valley communities.  But so are Saratoga, Cupertino, and Monte Sereno.

Gilroy was especially hard-hit with the housing downturn so perhaps in that case, it’s just coming back into more of a balance. (Then again, so was Morgan Hill and it’s still off by 12%.)

The LinkedIn IPO and others in the Palo Alto area drove prices up for some parts of the housing market nearby and it’s likely that this explains the positive growth for Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos Hills.  That said, it would seem that Los Altos, and perhaps even Sunnyvale would have seen stronger numbers on the same account.  Perhaps school scores are the key driver here.

Los Gatos, Saratoga and Monte Sereno often behave somewhat similarly as they are adjacent to one another and often attract similar home buyers who want good schools, a nice downtown area nearby and scenic beauty with the hills.  The annual numbers show Monte Sereno down 6.7%, Saratoga down 2% but Los Gatos up 6.4%.  With Monte Sereno, there are very few sales each month and each year (only about 4,000 residents), so there can be a wider swing without it necessarily being accurate. Saratoga and Los Gatos each have about 30,000 people who call these areas home, though, so the data is much more helpful.  Saratoga and Los Gatos both have multiple school districts, views, homes with better proximity to “downtown” and more variables – I think we’d have to dig a lot deeper to learn why these two neighboring markets are so diverse.  We might also have to look at multiple years of data to see if Saratoga spiked while LG slumped to explain the difference.

Coming in at last place: the Santa Cruz Mountains or Los Gatos Mountains area (zip code 95033), where the median list price of houses sold slipped 17% from the year before.  This beautifully scenic region covers a lot of territory and several quite different neighborhoods, some more convenient and others more remote.  It often takes much longer to sell a home in the mountains than on the valley floor but it can be a great “bang for your buck” for great schools, clean area, less crowding, etc.  The remoteness of some homes, the increased rain and other challenges generally make this part of the valley a more challenging real estate market most of the time, and in a down market that’s even more true.

Palo Alto, Mountain View and Los Altos each have regions which can be tracked in addition to the cities as a whole. If you’d like to see these numbers, please visit http://popehandy.rereport.com and then click on Yearly, then select the city, then the neighborhood and you can see how Baron Park or other areas are faring in particular (also for their monthly or quartly reports).

Areas within San Jose, like PA, MV and LA, can be tracked. Since I am very active in several of them (Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park, Willow Glen, Blossom Valley and others on the west side), I want to share those next.

The median sales price of houses which sold & closed in 2011 in the City of San Jose was down 5.9%, lower than the county as a whole.  Most of San Jose was worse off than the prior year – all except Alviso!

Alviso, which was a separate town until not so long ago, sold with a double digit increase in the median sales price – a whopping 10.6% higher than in 2010.  Affordability and investor activity are most likely the cause – more demand and less inventory than the year before. (I suspect either fewer distressed properties or that they were gobbled up quickly. Knowing would require more research.)

Downtown or central San Jose took a beating with the median sales price down 9.6%.  Why did it fall from grace?  Not everything in this area is affordable – consider that it includes Naglee Park, The Rosegarden, and a few other tony areas. I suspect it’s the number of foreclosures (REOs) and short sales but I don’t have that information at hand.  It would require a much closer look that our brief survey here to uncover what’s happening.  (We know that there are many unsold, new condos in downtown San Jose but those should not be impacting the sales of single family homes.)

In future articles or posts I hope to look at a few of these areas more carefully to see what is causing the great diversity between the areas showing improvement over 2010 such as Alviso, Palo Alto, Gilroy, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos and Mountain View versus those which are really hurting: downtown San Jose, the Los Gatos Mountains, Evergreen, Morgan Hill, Milpitas.  Very likely it’s a combination of the distressed market activity in some areas, school scores, the pricing tier (i.e., homes between 1 and 2 million near Palo Alto) and more factors.  With real estate, it’s always local – and that’s just the starting point.

Update:  SALE PENDING!

You’re invited to see this stunning young urban living condominium in Campbell close to everything featuring two bedrooms plus loft, 2 bathrooms and approximately 1610 square feet. All of this can be found in an elegant resort-like setting! New listing, open this weekend from 2-4 (Aug 13-14) so please stop by!

Urban Living in Campbell

This sleek condo, the Sapphire Penthouse floorplan (see below), is located just steps from the light rail and Los Gatos Creek Trail, shopping at Whole Foods and many other shops across Bascom, the Pruneyard a block or so away and downtown Campbell just around the corner!  A myriad of restaurants lie within a tenth of a mile.  One of my sellers told me that she had only put 1500 miles on her car in the year living there.  Imagine simply not needing your auto much at all!!  (The building does include two spots in the underground garage for your vehicle, should you still want one while living there!)

Resort Living, Contemporary Setting

Built by Pinn Brothers with great attention to detail, the Onyx offers tremendous features both in the condo itself and in the many fabulous shared areas.

Interior features include:

• open floor plan with high ceilings and dark floors
• elegant kitchen with mostly Bosch appliances (fridge is Fisher & Paykel), tremendous counter space with slab quartz countertops, recessed lights and contemporary dark cabinetry
• an abundance of natural light, loads of windows and recessed lighting
• spacious bedrooms (the master is really large!) and bathrooms
• Master bath features two sinks, large soaking tub and separate stall shower
• comfortable balcony

Community features include:

• large and gracious lobby with fireplace to welcome your visitors
• entertainment room with pool table, card or poker table, counches and flat screen tv
• private unit to rent for your special occasions (just off the lobby)
• exercise room
• storage unit for bikes, luggage – all kinds of things!
• underground parking for 2 vehicles (plus a bike rack)
• beautiful, sunny, tile courtyard with inviting fountain
• elevators

This beautiful home is offered at $529,950 (the best price per square foot at the Onyx today!).  We hope to see you this weekend! Co-listed with Kirsten Reilly.

Please note: the best place to park is in the Onyx retail spaces.  Come early and enjoy a meal at Chipotle or any of the find eateries in walking distance! This is Silicon Valley living at its best!

The Campbell, CA, real estate market for condos and townhouses has been a little up & down, but for houses it’s a stronger market.  That does not mean that prices in Campbell are where the owners or sellers would like them to be – just that residential real estate which is appropriately priced is selling pretty well.

Here’s a visual of market conditions (not prices) generally, through June 2011:

What about prices and home values?  Are they holding up?

Campbell houses for sale:  prices appear to be slipping slightly.  Some volatility is to be expected this year and next, so it’s possible to see some up and down (but probably not super dramatic unless you just barely have equity and it’s the difference between being able to sell without bringing money to the closing table or not).  Here are the figures for June – see the whole report on my R E Report site for Campbell CA houses:

The market for houses is good, but pricing is soft, as you can see in the numbers above.

What about for condos?

Condominiums and townhouses in Campbell – see the full real estate report online (updated each month around the 5th – 8th).  Isn’t it interesting that although it’s a cool or cold buyer’s market, prices there are actually inching up pretty noticeably.  That is very good news to condo and townhome owners who want to be doing a “move up”.

Next we’ll take a brief overview of the “big picture” in Campbell’s housing market by looking at statistics related to currently listed homes for both houses and condos or townhomes there. (Charts and data by Altos Research, to which I have a subscription and permission to use here.)

Median Price of condominiums and single family homes:

It’s interesting to see that there’s a rise in the median list price of houses for sale in Campbell whereas a leveling off with the condos and townhouses.

Inventory of houses and condos and townhouses in Campbell – both classes of housing are seeing a rise in inventory, but it’s more dramatic among houses:

Days on the market for homes for sale in Campbell – the two “markets” are now dialectical!

These numbers – for both houses and condos – can only give you a broad picture of what’s going on.  If there are no homes for sale in your townhome community and it’s in a great area, and you price it well etc., you should find it relatively easy to sell.  But if there is too much supply (too many similar homes on the market), it will be far more challenging to sell.

The residential real estate market, like everything else, is all about supply and demand.  For information on your specific neighborhood, please call me or email me today.

For more reading on Campbell CA real estate:

Affordable, Inexpensive Real Estate and Houses for Sale in Campbell, CA

Campbell, California: Once the Heart of the Fruit Canning Industry

Find Campbell, CA Houses for Sale:

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 28. See more city of Campbell real estate.
(all data current as of 2/11/2012)

1. $1,149,000 : 743 Virginia Av, Campbell
   
   4 beds, 4 full baths

   Home size: 2,600 sq ft

   Lot size: 11,100 sq ft
   
2. $456,000 : 1169 Longfellow Av, Campbell
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,155 sq ft

   Lot size: 8,211 sq ft
   
3. $830,000 : 1172 Lovell Av, Campbell
   
   4 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 2,114 sq ft

   Lot size: 14,375 sq ft
   
4. $799,900 : 1300 Patio Dr, Campbell
   
   3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,842 sq ft

   Lot size: 7,194 sq ft
   
5. $835,000 : 1276 W San Tomas Aquino Rd, Campbell
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 2,011 sq ft

   Lot size: 10,519 sq ft
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Browse Campbell, CA Condos Listed for Sale on the MLS:

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 8. See more city of Campbell real estate.
(all data current as of 2/11/2012)

1. $246,000 : 597 Valley Forge Wy #4, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 1 full bath

   Home size: 840 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,750 sq ft
   
2. $325,000 : 67 Dot Av, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,060 sq ft

   Lot size: 900 sq ft
   
3. $379,000 : 860 Apricot Av #E, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,065 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,306 sq ft
   
4. $270,000 : 2785 S Bascom Av #22, Campbell
   
   3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,262 sq ft

   Lot size: 740 sq ft
   
5. $508,000 : 912 Campisi Wy #205, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,485 sq ft
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

View townhouses or townhomes  in Campbell, California, listed for sale on the multiple listing service (MLS):

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 12. See more city of Campbell real estate.
(all data current as of 2/11/2012)

1. $397,900 : 721 W Hacienda Av, Campbell
   
   3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,572 sq ft

   Lot size: 4,400 sq ft
   
2. $399,900 : 101 W Rincon Av, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,141 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,168 sq ft
   
3. $510,000 : 576 W Hacienda Av, Campbell
   
   3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,820 sq ft

   Lot size: 2,400 sq ft
   
4. $345,100 : 236 W Rincon Av #C, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,319 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,306 sq ft
   
5. $599,000 : 1967 Dry Creek Rd, Campbell
   
   3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,558 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,176 sq ft
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Tomorrow, Saturday July 23rd, e-waste items will be taken by West Valley Collection & Recycling at no cost in two locations from 9am to 2pm:

1. The Los Gatos United Methodist Church – 111 Church Street, Los Gatos, off Main Street by Los Gatos High School
2. Campbell Church o Christ – 1075 West Campbell Avenue, Campbell. Entrance around back, please enter on Hedegard Avenue

What can be accepted: TV monitors, computers, laptops, DVD and CD players, printers, scanners, vacuum cleaners, electronic toys and games.

What cannot be accepted: sorry, no kitchen appliance or light bulbs.

Silicon Valley residents, mark your calendars!  Plan to be at the Pruneyard in Campbell to listen to the Michael Jackson tribute band, Foreverland!

The band will be onstage Wednesday, July 27th, starting at 6pm, to help raise funds for Portera.  This is the 3rd annual event and it promises to be a lot of fun!

Since this is a fundraiser, donations of food, gently used clothing and cash are very welcome.  Please read all about the event on the downtown Campbell website.

How’s the Campbell, California, real estate market? There are always micro-markets to follow, narrowing what’s viewed to neighborhoods, school districts, and price point. In general, though, it’s a healthy market for this upwardly trending Silicon Valley city with a quaint downtown, good schools and more affordability than might be expected. For houses, clearly, prices are nudging up!

Each month I have a site specifically producing the Silicon Valley real estate market trends (at least for that part of Silicon Valley which is within Santa Clara County). You can see the report for Campbell houses & duet homes here and the condominium and townhouse report here. Just below, I’ll post the basic numbers/summary, though, for those who want a quick view of the market:

(1) Single Family homes (houses/duet homes) in Campbell:

(2) Condominiums and townhouses in Campbell:

Yesterday we looked at the types of home sales around Silicon Valley by price point.  Not terribly surprising, most of the short sales and bank owned homes were in the lowest price ranges.  Today we’ll look at this type of information not by pricing tier but instead by geography – in other words, by either town, city or district of San Jose (area).  This post will not cover every area but will be a sampling a few communities, mostly on the west side of the valley (since that’s primarily where I work).

By way of reminder, the small image to the left reflects Santa Clara County’s houses for sale as a whole – all areas and all price points. (You can see the full sized image by clicking on it.) The green area represents “regular home sales” and the brick red and light orange signify distressed  properties listed on the MLS for sale (red is short sales and orange is bank owned or REOs). Next let’s see a few regions within the county to see how things are faring geographically.

1. Almaden Valley area of San Jose – homes listed for sale by type – very few distressed properties on the market!

Almaden is a lovely southwest San Jose suburban community (zip code 95120) that grew up initially with the cinnabar or mercury mining activity.  Today it’s an upscale area of more expensive homes than most of the county, it enjoys really good schools and scenic views of the coastal range as well as the Santa Teresa Foothills.  Housing here is costly but residents love the quality of life. Since the cost of homes for sale here is high, it’s not super surprising, after seeing yesterday’s post, that there are very few distressed homes on the market here. Next we’ll check the other extreme….

2. Alum Rock area of San Jose – this is a less wealthy part of Santa Clara County and generally has been harder hit by the mortgage and housing crisis.

In this east San Jose neighborhood of Alum Rock (near beautiful Alum Rock Park), almost half the homes listed for sale are either short sales or bank owned properties.  That said, Alum Rock has some areas which are much more upscale (and elevated), some with many many acres of land and those pricier properties are not quite so badly hit with the distressed property deluge.

3. Cambrian area of San Jose – a west valley community that often closely reflects Santa Clara County as a whole

The Cambrian or Cambrian Park district of San Jose often has prices, days on market and other trends which are very similar to Santa Clara County so it’s often a good “gauge” of how the area is doing generally.  If you compare this graph to the one at the top of this post, you’ll find them very similar – about 2/3 of listed houses and duet homes for sale are “regular” or non-distressed sales.

5.  Campbell -a little more expensive, great downtown, popular area

Campbell is exceedingly popular as it’s got a charming downtown, enjoys light rail access and is part of the Los Gatos Creek Trail. It’s close to Los Gatos, but more affordable. Here about 70% of the homes listed for sale on our multiple listing service or MLS are regular sales, so a little healthier than most of Silicon Valley.

6. Los Gatos – a more expensive community, fewer distressed houses for sale

In Los Gatos, there are right now just 3 short sales on the market (for houses and duet homes) and NO bank owned homes. As you can see, it’s overwhelmingly “normal sales” and this helps a lot with home values.

A year or so ago, we had a cluster of short sales in one particular east Los Gatos neighborhood and it was really damaging the property values of the “regular sellers’” homes. It’s encouraging to see this correct a bit.

7. Monte Sereno – more expensive still – no distressed houses for sale right now!

Monte Sereno is a tiny city with 4,000 residents. It’s more expensive then neighboring Los Gatos, with whom it shares police, schools, library and more.

With no businesses or commercial buildings, Monte Sereno enjoys a quieter lifestyle.  Most of the activity is either around Daves Avenue School, the post office/city building or the horse trails!

8. Palo Alto -home to Stanford and classy luxury homes

Stately and vibrant Palo Alto is home to Stanford University (and the Lucille Packard Hospital, which is a world class facility).  Schools in this city are top-rated in Silicon Valley.  The city is beautiful and there’s lots to do.  For many reasons, then, Palo Alto is probably the most sought after address in the region, and home prices reflect its desireability. Not surprisingly, then, it’s not likely that home buyers will find many low-cost distressed properties on the market.  When they do appear, they tend to go fast.  As of this writing, there’s just one short sale and no bank owned homes available there.

9. Saratoga – great schools, scenic vista, highly regarded Silicon Valley community

Saratoga is not as costly as Palo Alto, but within Santa Clara County it’s right up there near the top for least affordable.

What I find most interesting here is not the small number of distressed properties on the MLS in Saratoga, but rather that there’s an equal number of short sales as there are REOs (bank owned).  Usually the ratio is more 2 – to – 1.  Maybe it’s a fluke? We’ll have to check and see down the road!

What we see when looking at Silicon Valley houses listed for sale by sale type is that the geographical differences largely mimic the pricing tiers.  The more expensive the area – or the home within it – the less likely you are to find that bargain priced property.

For more info on Silicon Valley Communities, please also see my website’s community information page.

The Silicon Valley real esate market is heating up but it’s not heating “evenly”.  Some price points and areas (or school districts) enjoy a hot seller’s market while other segments are lagging.  A big factor in the overall health of the realty market in the San Jose area is the percentage of listings which are distressed properties, meaning short sales and bank owned homes.  Today we’ll see the ratios of these homes to the regular sales using graphs to get a quick visual take on the market trends and statistics.

Today we’ll look at homes listed on the MLS in all of Santa Clara County (including San Jose, Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga etc.) by price point. All of the graphs in this post will reference houses and duet homes combinesd(about 99% houses), not condos or townhomes.

Overall, it looks like about 1/3 of all homes for sale in the county are distressed sales. Next let’s look at this data by price point and then we’ll check it by area.  The images below will be smaller but the colors will represent the same elements in each one (green being regular sales, brick being short sales and light orange being REOs).

Ratio of regular sales to short sales and bank owned homes in Silicon Valley by price point

1. $599,999 and under

This first graph by pricing reflects houses (and duet homes) for sale in Santa Clara County which are under $600,000.

For this group, less than 50% (the green segment) is “regular sales”.  Most of the housing market in this entry-level pricing is distressed properties for sale.

Notice, too, that there are far more short sales than REOs or bank owned homes.

2. $600,000 to $999,999

The next group is homes priced between $600,000 and $999,000 – so these are primarily “move up” home prices, though in some parts of Siicon Valley (such as Palo Alto, Saratoga, Los Altos and a few others), these homes would be a first house, most likely.

3. $1 million to $2 million dollars

The third grouping consists of Santa Clara County houses for sale which are listed between $1,000,000 and $2,000,000.

These are nicer homes but usually not luxury housing per se in most parts of the county. In the more affordable areas such as Morgan Hill, Gilroy, and east San Jose areas, though, these could also constitute estate or luxury homes. (Not in Los Gatos, Monte Sereno or some west valley areas).

It is interesting to see that in this upper price point there are very few distressed sales – almost all of them are “regular sales”.

4. Homes priced at more than $2,000,000 – the Luxury Homes

Luxury homes in Santa Clara County vary but most are in the single million digit prices and very few selling more than $10 or $20 million  (though you may have heard about the recent, history-making $100,000 million sale in Los Altos Hills).

Tomorrow check back to see how these types of numbers shake out by city, town or district – we will view a sampling of them.

After enjoying a visit with some friends at the Orchard Valley Coffee Roasting shop in Campbell, Jim and I headed home on this lovely, warm evening at around 6:30pm. We happened to drive past a place that made me chuckle so I got a couple of pics (he was driving). I would not have thought of “skull and crossbones” as a theme for a house, but here you have it. And it’s not even Halloween and this isn’t even my haunted real estate blog.

Lately I am seeing a trend with short sale listings which is anecdotal but, I think, significant.  More and more, I am seeing and hearing about lenders which are requiring an unrealistic sales price in order to approve short sales.  When I say “unrealistic”, I mean more than the market can bear in many cases.

I personally had this experience in recent months: I had a short sale listing in Sunnyvale which was priced at market value last summer.  We got three offers, all within 2-3% of each other.  This is a pretty good indicator of market value. (Had we been underpriced, the contracts would have come in higher.)  The bank wanted about 15% more – an absolutely unjustifiable figure.

What to do?  I ran the comps and submitted them.  No impact.  I then paid an agent to do a BPO (broker price opion).  That number came in about 1.5% more than my sales price.  The lender, in turn, ordered an appraisal (which we appreciated), and that came in another 1.5% higher than the BPO (or about 3% higher than the sales price my seller had accepted).  Common sense would dictate that the lender would accept as authoritative the appraisal price, right?  Not so.  They wanted another 1.5% higher still – higher than their own appraisal value, certainly higher than market value.  Needless to say, the buyer did not want to overpay for the property.  Fast forward a six months and the bank now has taken back that townhouse at foreclosure.  It could have been avoided had the lender been willing to be realistic.

As I speak to my colleagues in the real estate industry here in Silicon Valley, I am finding that my story with this one listing is not so unique. I see homes on the market in various west valley communities (Almaden, Cambrian, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell and nearby San Jose areas) that are listed at a reasonable price and then speak with the Realtor and learn that the banks 10 to 15% more than the list price.  At best, this is at the high end of market value (but in many cases is higher still and completely crazy). The agents know that if the house is listed at the bank’s number, they’ll never even get an offer.

It looks as though many of the banks would rather just take the short sale properties back in foreclosure.  Why? There are incentives for them: they can write off losses, they don’t have to deal with second or third lein holders, and they may even have silent mortgage insurance, which doesn’t help if they accept a short sale – it only helps if there’s a foreclosure.

Some numbers:

Closed in the last month, just 26 short sale houses and condos and townhouses in Almaden, Cambrian, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga and Cupertino closed escrow.  In the same areas, there are 129 short sales on the market and available!   That’s 4.96 months of inventory….

Average days on market of these solds = 143   Average length of escrow for these solds = 110 (longest was 253!)

For non distressed listings in the same area it’s 555 available and 132 sold for 4.2 months of inventory.

The US government has tried to make short sales more appealing by offering cash incentives to lenders (and consumers), but it seems to me that right now, the banks are only appearing interested – they aren’t truly working to make short sales happen in many cases. This is not a good trend and it will hurt a lot of people.

Often I have clients who are interested in purchasing a 4 bedroom, 2 bath home in a good school district in Silicon Valley, particularly in the South Bay and West Valley areas.    Tonight I did a study on the MLS of homes that have sold and closed escrow in the last 3 – 6 months with these characteristics:

• single family home (house)
• 4 bedrooms
• 2 bathrooms
• 1800 to 2200 square feet of living space
• 6000 to 10,000 sf lot

Disclaimers aside, here are the numbers as I shook them out for select West Valley Communities in the San Jose area with good schools (the first number is the average sales price per square foot, the second number is the average sales price):

The home prices tend to run with the school district API scores.  You can check the 2010 API scores in Santa Clara County for both the districts and the individual schools online here.        

As you can see, there’s quite a range of pricing for our model 4 bed, 2 bath home of about 2,000 square feet – it could run as low as about $560,000 on average (Cambrian with San Jose Unified Schools) to a high of about $1,455,500 in Palo Alto.

Please remember that these homes do not represent just the most fixed up homes in the most ideal locations, short sales, regular sales, bank owned homes etc. – it’s all types of houses, all types of sales, so average numbers.  So if you are a buyer who needs a “turnkey” home with everything remodeled or new in the best location, you might want to mentally add at least another 10% to 25% to this cost. (For example, in my experience, a really nicely remodeled home along these lines in Almaden with the best schools will run between $1 mil and $1,200,000 depending; in Los Gatos it’s about 15% – 20% more for a similar home.)

Here are a few areas in Santa Clara County which are well known for good schools:

Palo Alto Unified = 925 (includes elementary, middle and high schools)

Los Altos Elementary = 965 (includes elementary and middle schools only)
Mountain View – Los Altos Union (high schools) = 852

Saratoga Union Elementary = 965
Los Gatos Union = 921
Los Gatos – Saratoga Joint Union (high school district) = 898

Cupertino Union = 951
Fremont Union High School District (high schools serving Cupertino and nearby) = 875 (but 2 high schools are in the 9s)

Union School District (Cambrian & east Los Gatos) = 905
Cambrian School District = 878
Campbell Union High School District = 761 (highest scoring school is Leigh at 817)

San Jose Unified is enormous… In Almaden, Leland has very very high scores, as does Bret Harte Middle School, so those area are preferre (all of the elementary schools in Almaden are quite good).

But wait, there’s more!

These aren’t the only areas with great schools in Silicon Valley, of course.  West San Jose and Santa Clara have areas that share Cupertino Schools, for instance.  Monte Sereno is 99.5% in the Los Gatos School area (but there were no homes matching our outline in the last few months).  The Los Gatos Mountain communities such as Redwood Estates, Holy City, Aldercroft Heights and Chemeketa Park enjoy fabulous schools (Lakeside and Loma Prieta districts).  There are wonderful schools in the Silver Creek area of Evergreen, the Warm Springs and Mission Districts of Fremont, and the city of Pleasanton, to name a few.

Bargain hunting home buyers have a lot to be grateful for: interest rates are low and house prices are low in Silicon Valley generally and Campbell too.  Oftentimes these are distressed properties which are either short sale listings or bank owned homes. So there will be issues with purchasing these houses, but even so, they are usually sold at a significant discount for the trouble. It’s a great time to buy Campbell real estate!

Least costly houses, townhouses and condominiums in Campbell, CA

Below please find the most affordable homes in all categories of housing & residential real estate!  These are properties currently listed as available on our local MLS.

Lower Cost Campbell Houses for Sale

Specifically looking to buy a house in Campbell? Here are homes which are most affordably priced:

Showing properties 1 - 1 of 1. See more city of Campbell real estate.
(all data current as of 2/11/2012)

1. $449,000 : 571 Maple Av, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 1 full bath

   Home size: 996 sq ft

   Lot size: 6,200 sq ft
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Inexpensive Campbell Townhouses for Sale

If a Campbell townhouse is what you seek, here is a list of the least costly homes available today:

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 7. See more city of Campbell real estate.
(all data current as of 2/11/2012)

1. $299,900 : 538 W Campbell Av, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,232 sq ft

   Lot size: 756 sq ft
   
2. $345,100 : 236 W Rincon Av #C, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,319 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,306 sq ft
   
3. $355,000 : 114 Monte Villa Ct, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,188 sq ft

   Lot size: 714 sq ft
   
4. $368,600 : 123 Dot Av, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,344 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,628 sq ft
   
5. $397,900 : 721 W Hacienda Av, Campbell
   
   3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,572 sq ft

   Lot size: 4,400 sq ft
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

More Affordable Campbell Condos for Sale

Condos in Campbell are highly desireable, especially when they are close to downtown, the Pruneyard and light rail. Here are the most reasonably priced condominiums on the market right now:

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 5. See more city of Campbell real estate.
(all data current as of 2/11/2012)

1. $246,000 : 597 Valley Forge Wy #4, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 1 full bath

   Home size: 840 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,750 sq ft
   
2. $269,500 : 245 Gomes Ct #4, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 1 full bath

   Home size: 798 sq ft

   Lot size: 2,000 sq ft
   
3. $270,000 : 2785 S Bascom Av #22, Campbell
   
   3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,262 sq ft

   Lot size: 740 sq ft
   
4. $325,000 : 67 Dot Av, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,060 sq ft

   Lot size: 900 sq ft
   
5. $333,000 : 905 Apricot Av #C, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,187 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,250 sq ft
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

For help with home buying here or elsewhere in the San Jose area (Santa Clara County), please call me today!

How is the Campbell condo and townhouse market?  The answer may well depend on both what part of that market we’re discussing and which data we’re focusing on.

The Campbell Condo Real Estate Market Summaries for Summer 2010

The summaries here are from my Real Estate Report.  Get the most current, detailed report at www.popehandy.ReReport.com.

Campbell condominium & townhouse sales in September 2010

The condo market in Campbell, California has been strengthening.  September 2010 was a good month!

August 2010 Condo Sales in Campbell CA

August was slow across Silicon Valley – real estate sales lagged (more than the “seasonal average”)

July 2010 condo market for Campbell, CA

June saw the market slow, and like much of the Santa Clara Valley, prices were up but sales were down.  When this happens it sometimes means that home values aren’t rising, just that more expensive homes are beginning to sell, but in Campbell we are now seeing modest price appreciation.

More detailed info from late June, 2010:

The absorption rate, or months of inventory, indicates that it’s a seller’s market:

The hottest segment is the bank owned or REO part of the Campbell condominium or townhouse realty market, and the slowest segment is the short sale section (which is about 20% of the available inventory). That’s very typical of other nearby areas: the hardest homes to sell are the short sales.  As a side note: there are 39 condos available and 29 which are sale pending. That is a high ratio, which also points to a seller’s market.

How does this compare to a year ago?  It’s completely different!

A year ago, the months of inventory was a whopping 72% higher at 8.8 for May 2009 vs 2.5 for May 2010. Solds are up 42% from 12 months ago.  Pending sales are up 200% from a year ago also.  So from every vantage, it’s much, much better than a year ago.

What about other data?  I have a subscription to Altos Research, which also charts the market but does it a little differently.  Often the numbers I crunch line up but sometimes theirs is an opposing view.  Here’s their current summary, which puts this market as a buyer’s market, not a seller’s market:

I like the fact that they track flipped homes, relisted homes and the percent of properties with price decreases.  This is especially important when you consider how many homes may get a price change and then a new MLS number, which may confuse some of the statistics.

Altos also breaks down more info by price quartile (they use list prices, not sales prices, for this info).   What I like about the following chart is that it gives you an idea of what your money will buy. (Seeing 4.5 bathrooms is throwing me, though – I don’t recall ever seeing a condo or townhome with that many bathrooms anywhere!)  Also of interest: the majority of condos or townhouses in Campbell seem to be around 1300 SF with 2 bedrooms and are offered somewhere in the 400′s.  That’s useful information for buyers and sellers alike.

So what can we say about the conflicting assessments of the Campbell real estate market for condos and townhomes?

I think Altos has some valid concerns about the long days on the market – 88 DOM does not sound like a “seller’s market”. I looked at the pendings to see if I could blame short sales – but even among pendings that are “regular sales”, the DOM is 64 (it’s actually less among short sales, oddly). That’s pretty long. We tend to think of a seller’s market as being applicable when homes sell in 3-4 weeks. Two months is a bit much to call it a seller’s market. Of the seven “normal type sales” which are pending, only two of them sold in under three weeks.

All in all, I think it shakes down to a fairly balanced market right now.  It’s not a bad time to sell, and it’s not a bad time to buy a Campbell condo. Search Campbell condo listings now!

Campbell CA Condos for Sale, Campbell Townhouses for Sale, Campbell Condominiums for Sale

Browse a list of homes in Campbell currently listed on our MLS as active & available. No need to register – see all condominiums & townhomes in Campbell (which are on the MLS).

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 20. See more city of Campbell real estate.
(all data current as of 2/11/2012)

1. $246,000 : 597 Valley Forge Wy #4, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 1 full bath

   Home size: 840 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,750 sq ft
   
2. $397,900 : 721 W Hacienda Av, Campbell
   
   3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,572 sq ft

   Lot size: 4,400 sq ft
   
3. $325,000 : 67 Dot Av, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,060 sq ft

   Lot size: 900 sq ft
   
4. $379,000 : 860 Apricot Av #E, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,065 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,306 sq ft
   
5. $399,900 : 101 W Rincon Av, Campbell
   
   2 beds, 1 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,141 sq ft

   Lot size: 1,168 sq ft
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

Today we’ll look at the ratio & relationship between real estate listings and sales of houses and duet homes in Silicon Valley over the last eighteen months. The goal is to get a sense of the market trends in terms of the overall absorption of homes for sale.  (We’ll give a glance at condo and townhome sales but the focus is on single family homes.) How hard is it to sell a home?  The answer has to do with supply and demand – the number of listings and the number of sales.

In the graphs below, the reddish brown line represents the number of pending sales.  The blue line indicates the number of listings or homes for sale. Put simply, the closer these two lines are together, the hotter the market – that is, the more of a seller’s market it is.  When they are far apart, it’s more cold, more of a buyer’s market.  If the lines cross, it is a wild frenzy (that does happen in one case, as you will see). Below please find the graph for the homes in Santa Clara County overall (all areas).

Santa Clara County listings to sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

 You can see that these two lines pinch together in about December 2009 to January 2010.  Prices had dropped and investors were swooping in! The  market has cooled since then.

Santa Clara County condo & townhome listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

 For condos and townhouses, all of Santa Clara County:Here the two lines  – or the market – were close together for about 3-4 months.  Buyers understood that condominiums in Silicon Valley were bargain priced, and they responded by buying.Now let’s look at various areas around the county.  We’ll take these in Alphabetical order, beginning with Almaden Valley.

Almaden Valley listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

 As you can see, the market improved but never got as “hot” as in the county generally.  This is because it’s a more expensive area, and most of what was selling in winter consisted of entry level housing.
  

Cambrian Park listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

  Cambrian had a couple of flurries, beginning in the spring of 2009 and again in winter 2009 – 2010.  

Campbell listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

  Campbell, which costs about 10-20% more than Cambrian, never got so “hot” by comparison.  

Cupertino listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

Cupertino, which is always in demand due to the superior school scores, had a longer than typical run of very close listings to pendings.   

Los Altos listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

Like everywhere else, it looks like the fastest absorption of homes for sale was happening last December.   

Los Altos Hills listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

   While there was a drop in inventory over the holidays, it was still not a great time for sales for Los Altos Hills last winter.   

Los Gatos listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

   The Los Gatos area has fared worse than Los Altos….Sales are now improving, but listings are going on the market at an even faster rate.   

Monte Sereno listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

   
Monte Sereno is similar to Los Gatos – listings and sales are both picking up, but new listings are outpacing new sales.

Next, San Jose as a whole – all areas, from Alum Rock and Berryessa to South San Jose, downtown, Willow Glen, etc.   When you view what’s happening in the city of San Jose generally, it is amazing: the numbers of listings did not keep up with the numbers of homes going under contract for 6-7 months.  Talk about a frenzy!   The San Jose real estate market began to cool in spring 2010 and that trend has continued through the summer.  

San Jose (all areas) listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

 Saratoga, like other high end markets, is the other extreme. The market improved for sellers during winter (in terms of homes getting sold, but not necessarily for getting the best price), but nothing like what we saw in San Jose.  

Saratoga listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

Finally, the Willow Glen market.  The market improved over sinter and wasn’t too bad in Spring, but over summer there has been both a drop in sales and a rise in inventory, making it much tougher on sellers in this part of San Jose.  

Willow Glen listings to pending sales Jan 2009 to June 2010

What can we take away from this?  In most parts of Silicon Valley, in recent months sales have dropped off while the numbers of listings have increased.  This makes it much easier for buyers and much tougher for sellers.   If your home is for sale, it is important to understand that the market is much different now than it was four or six months ago.  Buyers may not tolerate or accept some seller conditions (or pricing) from last winter or spring.  To get your home sold now will require better condition and pricing.  If you rely upon the sold prices, you may be deceived since the market is not the same.  Too much supply and not enough demand will put downward pressure on prices.  

Buyers who are jumping into the market now are bargain hunting.  Buyers, it’s a great time to buy – it may not stay like this for you a lot longer with fantastic prices and interest rates both!

Sellers, if you aren’t prepared to sell at today’s market values, you may want to wait until the market can bear your price. Otherwise the odds are that your home will languish on the market, racking up days on market but not getting sold.  To sell, your home has to be the best value and the most attractive home, priced in the bottom 20-30% of similar homes for sale.

The information here is general and what applies to one neighborhood or area may not apply within certain price points or school districts, for instance. For more information about your home or area, please call or email me.

Numbers from MLSListings.com, graphs created on that site - info deemed reliable but not guaranteed.

The sales numbers for Silicon Valley real estate in June 2010 are now out and crunched. How’s the market?  Still extremely competitive in the entry level price points – it is a seller’s market overall in Santa Clara County.  The average list price to sales price ratio continues to be at over 100% (and this is the 12th month in a row for that statistic, so it is more than a fleeting trend!).

Here are the numbers at a glance for houses in Santa Clara County:

And here are the figures for condominiums and townhouses in SCC:

Some areas and price points are “stronger” than others as seller’s markets go. Houses in the Alum Rock area have gotten very beat down in pricing during the market collapse and consequently are very “hot” right now with a sales price averaging 103% of list price. Almaden Valley is cooler, with an average sales price of 98.8% of list price. Cambrian Park is at 100.3%, Willow Glen is 98.3%, the city of Campbell is at 98.5%.

The condo market had a worse time during the price drops because home buyers could purchase a house rather than a condominium or townhouse.  Now, though, prices have adjusted and the condo & townhome markets are generally hot.  The exception is the luxury market for these types of homes, which remain a little sluggish.  Among condos in Palo Alto, the ratio between list and sales price is 98.4%, in Saratoga it’s 98.7%, in Los Gatos it is 97.3%.

To learn more, please visit my Real Estate Report and read the online report here:

http://rereport.com/scc/print/Mary.PopeHandySCC.pdf