How is the residential real estate market doing in the Cambrian Park area of San Jose, CA?  We’ll have a look at the 95124 zip code area and the 95118 zip code area of San Jose, which together comprise at least 95% of the Cambrian Park real estate area of Silicon Valley. (A small sliver belongs to the predominently Campbell area of 95008.) The following charts, from Altos Research, represent list prices (not sold prices).

Although the condos in 95124 (green line) have not fared too badly in the last year, the vast majority of Cambrian Park real estate seems to be hurting. The median list price on these homes has been slipping fairly steadily over the last year - often at least 10% of value. This is the broad overview. Next we will view things on more of a micro level.

Next, we’ll view Cambrian in smaller segments, broken down by both zip code and quartile. First, let’s take a look at the 95124 zip code, starting with the single family home real estate market:
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With so much dire news abounding, it’s easy to believe that there’s no good news in Silicon Valley real estate. That just isn’t the case, though. Every market is an opportunity for someone. It’s always better for one side (buyer/seller) and worse for the other. Right now, values are slipping, especially in the condo market, and people who own homes generally feel glum about that. But for those wanting to buy, this is a glimmer of hope that maybe they can buy a home in San Jose - maybe a condo or a house, here rather than in the Central Valley. And with gas at $4 per gallon, living close to work is highly prized.

I. The Data for Sold Single Family Homes in Cambrian Park

But back to the local market in San Jose’s Cambrian Park district. What’s happening now in the housing market? Here are a few facts about the solds in Cambrian for single family homes in August 2008 (charts care of my Real Estate Report, a subscription):

• Cambrian Park short sales are not rising dramatically - in fact, they seem to have leveled off or perhaps even reduced in number
• sales prices in Cambrian are down 2-4% from July to August (that said, August is often one of the softest months of the year)
• the median Cambrian Park sales price was down 7.2% in August from a year ago
• the average Cambrian sale price was down 12% in August from a year ago
• the Cambrian Park list price to sales price ratio in August was a healthy 98.2%, improved from July’s 97.7% but worse than a year ago’s 99.4%
• days on market in Cambrian was slightly improved with 45 in August, 46 in July but 27 a year ago

Let’s now have a look at some of these Cambrian Park single family home real estate facts in graphs that include not just this year, but recent history as well. First, the ratio between the list price and sales price. In a seller’s market, homes often sell at or over 100% of the asking price. Here you can see that the last time there was this type of peak in Cambrian Park was in about May of 2007. The ratio slipped consistently until February of this year, when it rose again until about May before beginning a decline. This type of slippage is not uncommon from sometime in spring through at least the end of the summer.
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