San Jose is the largest city in Santa Clara County (or Silicon Valley) with about one million residents.  The districts or areas within San Jose vary tremendously in many ways, including their respective real estate markets.

Today we’ll have a comparative look at the median list prices in the housing market in three areas & zip codes of San Jose: Almaden Valley (95120), Cambrian Park (95124) and Willow Glen (95125).  First, how these three areas line up against each other and against San Jose as a whole in terms of the median list prices of homes for sale in the last year.

Please note: the charts below are “live” html and the commentary is appropriate as of today, July 30, 2010.  The charts will continue to change and be updated,though, so it’s possible that a year from now the commentary may seem disjointed.  Now you’ll know why!

First, a glance at Almaden, Willow Glen, Cambrian and San Jose genererally.  Overall, it looks like the higher priced homes are having the most trouble.  A closer look, though, shows that although Almaden is pricier than Willow Glen, Willow Glen’s median list price has gone down far more than Almaden’s.  My guess is that the school districts are having a large influence here – the schools in Almaden range from good to great, whereas in Willow Glen most of the zip code has only average schools.

San Jose as a whole, by price quartile is next.

The lowest priced homes have been inching up over the year. The second price point from the bottom seems to be about even with a year ago, the second from the top is down and the most expensive homes are down by about 5%.

Next, let’s focus on the Almaden Valley area of town by price quartile also:

What a change from San Jose as a whole – all of these price points are down from a year ago. (Buyers, take note: it’s easier to buy a home when you see these conditions.)  The price points are high, so Almaden is behaving like other more expensive areas of San Jose.  Next, Cambrian Park…
(more…)

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.
(more…)

The condominium & townhouse market is improving dramatically now.  It is evident both in looking at the stats countywide and in my recent experiences holding open my townhouse listings in Saratoga and Sunnyvale as well as recently participating in the sale of a townhome in Almaden Valley (representing a buyer) – all different areas and price points but all very active.

Here are the numbers for May sales of condos and townhomes for all of Santa Clara  County:

As you can see, the days on market are shrinking and prices (both median and average) are rising.  A few numbers cut back slightly in May: the sale to list price ratio retreated a little to 99.9% and the pending properties went down a little too.  But the number of sales were up.

The “months of inventory” or absorption rate is a great way to know how much of a buyer’s or seller’s market it is in any given place. Six months is considered balanced, less is a seller’s market and more is a buyer’s market.  Here are the months of inventory for selected communities in the “west valley” area of Silicon Valley – they are all “seller’s markets”, but some are strong and some are approaching balanced:

Of course, this is still painting with a broad brush.  The absorption rate for any of these areas may not be accurate for the various price points or school districts that might be found there.  For instance, a large luxury townhouse in Los Gatos which is downtown might be a really different type of market than a small, entry level one bordering Campbell or Cambrian Park.

What everyone’s wondering is if this seller’s market for condominiums and townhouses will continue despite the end of the federal home buyer credit.  To utilize that credit, homes had to be in contract by April 30th.  Most of those should be closed now, or nearing that date at best.  So we’ll really know more as we move into summer. My sense, though, is that what’s driving this market is much more the affordable prices of homes and of loans. The credits are a bonus, but many in Silicon Valley make too much money to be able to use them.

For information on your particular part of the Silicon Valley condo or townhome market, please give me a call or email me!

Often homes in and near San Jose have some sort of non-permitted modification done.  Sometimes it’s a roof, a water heater replacement or even electrical changes (or improvements) done without the necessary permits and finals.

If you buy a home or have one with this situation and live in the city of San Jose, there’s a great deal of information available online via the city’s website.  Today I was looking on the site for a client who wants to do an addition (and wondered what the limits and guidelines are for that) when I found this page. It’s a gem!

Work done without required permits

Also helpful on this page is info on what DOES need permits (most everything, by the way).  Check it out!

Last week my husband, Jim Handy, took a few photos from the parking lot os the Church on the Hill in San Jose’s Willow Glen district. He was taken with the clouds and thought they’d make great photographs.

This first view looks across Silicon Valley toward Los Gatos with the view of the Santa Cruz Mountains ahead.  The low point in the hills on the right side is where the town of Los Gatos sits (it’s where Highway 17 goes through the mountains to the coast).  These areas near the coastal range are often referred to as “the west valley”.

The next one is a view toward downtown San Jose and Silicon Valley generally. The hills on the right are the east foothills.

How many of the Silicon Valley homes for sale are listed as short sales? How many are bank owned properties? This morning I did some time pulling the numbers out for my readers so that you can see the actual real estate figures.

What’s being counted below are homes for sale, including houses, duet homes, condominiums and townhouses (or townhomes) in the various areas of Santa Clara County listed below.

As was the case a year or two ago, most of the short sale activity is taking place in the most affordable price ranges. The higher priced areas are not immune, though – but because there are fewer distressed properties to choose from, they get purchased rather quickly, so we’d see a higher percentage of them among the pending sales rather than the available listings.

Today I did a post on this subject focusing specifically on the Los Gatos real estate market in terms of short sales today vs the last couple of years (and the question of whether or not the trend is to rising numbers of short sales available). To learn more, visit the article on my Live in Los Gatos blog.

For bargain hunting buyers of high end properties, then, it’s slim pickings!  In the entry level areas, there’s much more selection but also lots of competition.  Last week I was involved with some buyers in a bidding frenzy in a terribly underpriced Cambrian short sale: it got 43 offers!  (So please remember that the list price may be completely unrelated to the sales price.)

If you’re looking to buy or sell a home in Silicon Valley, it helps to have the assistance of a Realtor with a pulse on the market.  Please contact me for a confidential & no-obligation meeting today!

It’s the holiday season in Silicon Valley: what to do? 

The downtown San Jose Holiday Parade is always the first Sunday in December (mark your calendars!), following one day after the downtown Los Gatos Holiday Parade, which is always the first Saturday in December.  (This year, 2009, it’s December 6th.)  Yesterday I stumbled upon a website dedicated to the San Jose parade and learned that you can find info on it on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter.

There’s lots to do in downtown San Jose during the holidays. This year, in addition to Christmas in the Park  (runs to Jan. 1st) and Winter Wonderland, there are performances of The Nutcracker to be enjoyed, courtesy of Ballet San Jose (the 30th anniversary of that production and Christmas in the Park here, by the way).  Ice skate between the palms at Downtown Ice, which runs through January 18th this year (2009). 

The Cathedral Basilica of St Joseph (Roman Catholic) offers free musical events in mid to late December as well, and all are welcome. This is the 8th annual “Season of Hope” series.   Concerts are every night beginning December 12th and running through December 23rd, with performances at 7pm and 8pm.  The Cathedral’s website does not list the dates of particular performers, but the Valley Catholic newspaper does (a couple of the links show up as “tiny urls” instead of names, but most performers are listed).

Although it’s not a Christmas, Hanukkah or NewYear’s theme, it’s worth a mention that the Tech Museum of Innovation is hosting a fabulous Star Trek Exhibit  right now too. There’s an enormous display,called “Star Trek The Exhibition”, a couple of rides (extra cost),  plus you can view Star Trex IMAX in the theater (also an extra cost).

Visit the Farmer’s Market year-round on Fridays at San Pedro Square.

There’s lots to do in Silicon Valley through the month of December – this is just the tip of the holiday iceburg!

For things to do in Los Gatos this month, please see this post on my Live in Los Gatos blog. Holiday Events in Los Gatos for 2009.

For more things to do in and around Silicon Valley over the holidays, please check out these links:

Santa Clara Chamber of Commerce’s blog
Downtown Campbell
Milpitas Chamber of Commerce