Next week I’ll be putting a Willow Glen house on the market so have been paying attention to the trends & statistics for this charming part of San Jose.  Here’s a look at the absorption rate for Willow Glen houses and duet homes (numbers run yesterday) by price band.

Willow Glen Months of Inventory June 17 2010

My Real Estate Report provides numbers (which I don’t have to crunch!) on a monthly basis for all of Santa Clara County, including the Willow Glen (area 10, mostly 95125) part of San Jose.  It’s a good, broad view of the Willow Glen market overall.  Here’s the summary for the  May 2010 Real Estate Report for Willow Glen – June’s info will be out sometime in early July. Click on the link to get all the data rather than just this quick view.

The Willow Glen real estate market trends are up month over month for the median & average sales prices, but the average sales price is still down year over year.  Pendings are down compared to April (possibly a reaction to the federal home buyer tax credit?) and year over year.  The list price to sales price ratio is up, though, and the days on market are shorter.

Looking at both sets of numbers, mine and the REReport’s, it is clear that the homes priced up to about $900,000 are the ones leading the recovery, and that the most expensive homes are not selling well at all.  When we began to see improvement in the market, it was first entry level houses that were selling well.  Eventually it spread to the move-up market, both here and throughout Silicon Valley.  Will it continue?  The very high end homes in Santa Clara County are selling much better than they were a year ago, but as you can see, there’s still loads of room for improvement for the luxury homes market.

San Jose’s westside suburb of Cambrian Park appears to have “bottomed out” in February or March.  Home prices are rising there now, at least in many price points.   Cambrian consists of two zip codes, 95124 and 95118 (and a sliver of 95008) and two high school districts, Campbell Union High School District and San Jose Unified School District.

The “months of inventory” reflects how long the current inventory of homes for sale would take to be absorbed if sales continued at the same pace and no new homes came on the market. Six months is a balanced market more than six is a buyer’s market, and less than six is a seller’s market.

As you can see, it’s a seller’s market in Cambrian Park in both school districts!  (This may not be true for all homes in all prices and all conditions, but it is indicative of the overal market.)

With inventory selling really fast, it is not surprising that prices are rising.  Below please view the Altos Report (to which I have a subscription) for the last 6 months:

This is a little busy, but here’s the same data but broken down by price quartile:

(more…)

The Los Gatos real estate market appears to remain a ” buyer’s market”, but it entirely depends on which part of the Los Gatos market you’re discussing.

This post will cover:

• single family homes (99% houses, but a few duet homes)
• 95030 and 95032 zip codes
• Two high school districts:
  • Los Gatos Saratoga High School District (meaning Los Gatos High School)
  • Campbell Union High School District (meaning Westmont or Leigh High Schools)
• varying price points in all of the above

General comments:
Most of 95030 is in the Los Gatos Saratoga High School District, but there is a very, very tiny portion of it which belongs to the Campbell Union High School District.  The percentage is so small as to be statistically insignificant, but I wanted to mention it here for the sake of accuracy and I will include it below.  The numbers below are from our MLS provider, MLSListings.com, with the numbers crunched by me, Mary Pope-Handy.  While I have made every effort to be 100% accurate, I do not guarantee it (don’t sure me if there’s a typo or other error!).

Overview of the basic numbers and months of inventory for the housing market in the town of Los Gatos overall  - homes for sale, pending sales, and closed sales within the last month:

It appears to be a buyer’s market, which is true for much of the town, but not all of it.  There is variation to a phenomenal degree depending on price point, zip code, and school district.  Below we’ll look at all of it and see market conditions for each segment.
(more…)

The post below was written in 2008. To see the most current posts on Willow Glen and the real estate market there, please click on this link to see all related posts with the most current on top. At the bottom of this post, I’ll add links to some articles which are specifically related to the Willow Glen real estate market trends & statistics, too.

Silicon Valley has wildly divergent real estate market conditions right now, and those swings are evident in the Willow Glen district of San Jose. As is the case elsewhere in Santa Clara County, the condo market has had a far rougher time of it than the single family home market.

The market for Willow Glen houses has been fairly close to a balanced market (6 months) for much of this year, though the general trend is in the buyers favor at this point and prices are down (see chart below).

The statistics, data and trends for single family homes in the Willow Glen Real Estate Market:

While the aborption rate for condos is far worse then for single family homes in Willow Glen, pricing is amazingly strong – down a very slight amount from a year ago (much less then with houses). That said, almost no condos are selling. So likely only the best of the best is selling and everything else goes unsold. So having strong prices but most homes not selling is no consolation to sellers.

This is a trend we are seeing in most of Silicon Valley, and in all types of homes. Buyers don’t want to fix up. They want turnkey.Statistics, data and trends for condominiums and townhouses in the Willow Glen Real Estate Market of San Jose:

If you are interested in buying or selling a home in Willow Glen, please call or email me. I’d be happy to offer you a free one hour consulation.

Related articles:

Willow Glen Market Update in Brief for June 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010

The Condo and Townhouse Market Update in the West Valley for June 2010
Saturday, June 5th, 2010

(This is a comparative post which includes multiple Silicon Valley areas together with Willow Glen.)

The Micro-Markets of the San Jose Neighborhood of Willow Glen Saturday, March 20th, 2010

The Willow Glen Real Estate Market Trends and Statistics
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009

It’s Not Your Imagination: There are Fewer Homes to Choose from in Silicon Valley
Tuesday, June 16th, 2009

(This is a comparative post which includes multiple Silicon Valley areas together with Willow Glen.)

How is the Almaden Valley Real Estate Market doing?

It’s the end of September now, and normally we see a little rally in the market after Labor Day. Let’s see how this September is stacking up in Almaden Valley. Below, please find charts using current list prices courtesy of Altos Research (to which I subscribe).

The Median List price for the Almaden Valley district of San Jose (zip code 95120) has been declining overall. Does this mean that homes are declining in value? Or does it mean that less expensive homes are being offered for sale? Information from sold data indicates that by and large, homes are holding their value in Almaden right now. The declines in asking prices may indicate that sellers simply want prices to be rising more than they actually are, rather than the idea that values are falling.

This first chart indicates how both homes and condominiums or townhouses are faring in terms of median list prices in Almaden. Interestingly, the condo market had a steeply rising list price this last spring, while the single family home market did a milder version of the same a couple of months later. What sellers want for their homes is not matching up to what they are getting.

Next, let’s have a look at the percent of homes that have had price reductions in this part of San Jose. A steep increase in the number of condos needing reductions in price are seen in the timeframe following that rise noted above. This would seem to indicate that condo sellers were more optimistic when putting their homes on the market, but found out over the next couple of months that these asking prices were not realistic. The number of properties getting price decreases among single family homes were a bit later, just like the rising list prices were later, in Almaden. Right now, though, the percentage of sellers decreasing their list prices are about the same for both types of housing – appx 52%. So approximately half the homes currently on the market in Almaden have had at least one price reduction.

(more…)