How is the Williams Elementary School area of San Jose’s Almaden Valley 95120 doing in terms of the real estate market? Today we’ll look at the Williams area as compared to Almaden as a whole to see. First, the basic realty trends and stats for this nice section of Silicon Valley side by side for this year only (I pulled and crunched all of this data from MLSListings.com myself tonight, “deemed reliable but not guaranteed”):

1. Comparison of the average price per square foot for all of Almaden (including the Williams area) with just the Williams area of 95120:

While there is some fluctuation from one status to the next, at the end of the day there’s one number that matters the most, and that’s what actually sold and closed.  In the Williams area, homes have sold at an average of $418 per square foot while in Almaden generally (including this area), the price is $399 per square foot – about 5% less. This is tremendously important to understand if you are trying to purchase a home in the Williams area – homes there do, in fact, sell for more than in most parts (perhaps all parts) of the Almaden Valley.

Next, the stats for just the Williams area followed by the stats for all of 95120.
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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…
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How’s the move-up real estate market in the west valley areas of Silicon Valley?  Today we’ll have a glance at the segment of the realty market (for houses for sale, not condos or townhomes) with list prices between $800,000 and $1,200,000 in Almaden, Cambrian, Los Gatos/Monte Sereno, Saratoga, the LG Mountains, Cupertino and Campbell.  (Monte Sereno has very few properties in this price range so it wasn’t helpful to break it out separately.)We will look at a few of the statistics for the area as a whole, but look at the absorption rate or months of inventory area by area.

Recent sales: In all of these areas combined, there were 146 houses or duet homes which have closed escrow (sold & closed) in the last 30 days.  Only 4% total were short sales (2%) or bank owned property sales (another 2%).  Bargain hunters trying to scoop up one of these be aware: it’s slim pickings!

Of the 146 houses sold, ten of them went “all cash”, all but one of the rest were “conventional” (could mean any range of downpayments but a regular loan) and one was listed as “other” so it could have been owner financing. None, of course, were FHA backed financing – the limits are too high for that.

For all areas combined, the average list price to sales price was 99.68%.   Lots of variation from one area to the next, though, just as with the absorption rate or MOI, which is covered below. Cupertino’s ratio was 102.34%, while  in Campbell it was 95%.

Absorption rate or months of inventory: It varies on the school district, price point, home type and home sale type (distressed vs regular sale).  For example, in Almaden Valley right now, overall it is a strong seller’s market – prices are rising, especially in the lower price points, and the months of inventory is a very brisk 1.8 (6 is said to be “balanced”, more than 6 is a buyer’s market and less than 6 is a seller’s market). Short sales are at 2.6 months of inventory overall.  But look at homes selling between 1.2 mil and 2 million and it’s a different story: in that part of the market it’s 5.8 months of inventory – almost “balanced”.

Here’s how they stack up for months of inventory:

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