A key ingredient in understanding how the Silicon Valley real estate market is faring is the ratio of regular sales to distressed properties on the market (Bank owned or REO listings and short sale listings). Today we’ll study Los Gatos and four areas or districts of San Jose: Almaden Valley, Willow Glen, Cambrian Park, and Blossom Valley.

First, let’s look at the county numbers as a general overview.  In all of Santa Clara County, there are 3537 houses, duet homes, condominiums & townhouses for sale and available (“status 1″ for my Realtor readers) on our multiple listing service. Of those, merely 1964 are “regular sales” (56%), 1105 are short sales (31%) and 375 are bank owned homes or REOs (11%).

Now let’s drill down to a few areas: Los Gatos, Almaden Valley, Willow Glen, Cambrian Park and Blossom Valley.  We’ll check out the ratio of regular sales of houses and condos in each of these areas.  How do these compare to the county average of 56%? Have a look:

This is helpful information for both home buyers & home sellers.  Home sellers need to understand the challenges that come with selling in an area with more short sales or REOs, if they are in one of those parts of the valley.  Or vice versa: if there are few distressed properties on the market, this makes it easier to sell (with less downward pressure on pricing).  Buyers need to appreciate that they will have better luck negotiating in areas where many homes are being sold under some pressure.

A quick disclaimer - if we narrowed this study by school district and even neighborhood school, we might find that these “general numbers” are actually quite different at the hyper-local level.  For example, if you visit a post of mine about the Los Gatos real estate market on my Live in Los Gatos blog, you’d find that when we separated out the various school districts, and even price points, the ratio of distressed properties and their absorption rates change very dramatically.  To see those, scroll down until you see the blue and yellow boxes.

The condo market in San Jose and nearby areas has taken a beating throughout our downturn.  Even so, condos in Los Gatos, Almaden and Willow Glen are faring pretty decently.

Now let’s hone in on each of these five areas and the two main housing types to see the ratio in each of regular sales, short sales, and REOs.
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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:

Sorry, but we couldn't find any results in the MLS that match the specified search criteria.

Right now there are about 4664 active residential real estate listings (homes listed for sale on our local MLS) which are houses, duet homes, townhouses or condominiums in Santa Clara County.  Of those, there are 1255 short sales (27% of the inventory) and 463 bank owned properties, or REOs (9%),  on the market.  So the “distressed properties” segment equals 37% of the Silicon Valley real estate market (or Santa Clara County real estate market).

Some areas are flooded with short sales & bank owned homes. Others are going through this meltdown nearly unscathed. Below please find a sampling of areas in and around San Jose with the percentage of distressed homes for sale (including both short sales and REOs or bank owned properties).  In most areas, there are usually about 3 times as many short sales as bank owned homes, but sometimes it’s a lower percentage, closer to 2.5%.   I pulled the numbers from our MLS tonight – info is deemed correct but of course not guaranteed. 

San Jose’s Cambrian Park district is a west valley community which primarily consists of the 95124 zip code region and the 95118 zip area with a sliver of 95008 thrown in.  Cambrian was once a very broad area including part of what we now consider Campbell and Willow Glen.  The heart of it was “Cambrian Village”, which can be found at Camden and Union Avenues.

Want to buy a Cambrian house?  The 95118 area is a little more affordable than the 95124 – you tend to get a bit more house for your money and/or a little newer house for the budget. (Please also see Cambrian Park Houses for Sale in 95124.)

Real Estate in San Jose: Cambrian Park Houses for Sale & Listed on the MLS

Below please find houses for sale in Cambrian Park, San Jose, 95118. Feel free to browse, click through, scan the map and enjoy the photos of these listed properties. No registration required!

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 22. See more 95118 zip code real estate.
(all data current as of 5/23/2012)

1. $785,000 : 3339 Beacon Ln, San Jose
   
   3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,952 sq ft

   Lot size: 6,784 sqft
   
2. $998,000 : 5715 Mireille Dr, San Jose
   
   4 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 2,000 sq ft

   Lot size: 6,566 sqft
   
3. $649,000 : 1373 Adobe Ct, San Jose
   
   4 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,966 sq ft

   Lot size: 8,800 sqft
   
4. $499,500 : 5576 Dwight Av, San Jose
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,401 sq ft

   Lot size: 6,000 sqft
   
5. $699,000 : 5740 Park Manor Dr, San Jose
   
   4 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,700 sq ft

   Lot size: 6,099 sqft
   

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

Saratoga, California is a scenic, small city with a fabulous downtown area known as Saratoga Village.  Once a logging town, Saratoga is now a Silicon Valley bedroom community.  It is known for expensive homes & luxury estates, fantastic schools that score highly in the nation, low crime, and scenic vistas.

Find Saratoga, CA, listings and homes for sale

What’s on the market now? Below please find all currently available houses that are listed on our local MLS. (They are in order of price from the luxury real estate listings to the most affordable cottages in town.)

Please note that there is a lot of variety within this community.  One of the big drivers of value is the school district, and here there are three of them!  The part closest to the Village falls under “Saratoga Schools”. The other districts are Moreland and Cupertino schools.  Of these, Saratoga & Cupertino rival each other for most expensive generally and the Moreland area is consistently much less expensive.
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“Why isn’t my Silicon Valley townhouse selling?” wonders the home owner. Real estate agents know why the home isn’t getting any offers, or worse yet, any traffic at all. In fact, local Realtors who’ve seen it probably wonder if the owner of the property has seen the MLS printout at all.

1. Terrible  photos (or not enough of them): in our San Jose area MLS we are allowed 9 photos.  How many are in your listing?
2. More on photos: Would it be so hard to turn the lights on in the home when photographing the property? Real estate looks much better when well lit than when dark.  Even beautifully remodeled kitchens can look so-so if the lights are not all on!  A bright room will make you money…a dark room will cost you!
3. Is there a video or virtual tour?
4. Is the listing syndicated so that buyers can find it on multiple websites?
5. How is the pricing? Did you price a 2 bedroom townhouse as if it’s a 3 bedroom? That’s a very common but huge mistake!  Compare apples to apples – the buyers are doing that, and when you bought your home, you did too!  Did you price the home using comps from 6 months ago, or comps from 3 miles away, or a different school district? Huge mistake!
6. What’s your competition?  If you’re a short sale, you need to be competitive against other short sales.  Don’t be satisfied that your home is less expensive than a “regular sale”. They are two entirely different things!
7. MLS description and comments: what kind of comments are in the precious few words allowed to describe your home in the multiple listing service? I have seen inane things use up that space.  It is imperative that the descriptions be strong.  For example, not “nice kitchen” (that could mean almost anything), but instead “slab granite countertops” – specifics that buyers want to hear about!
8. Commission rate: if your townhome is a “regular sale” and everything in your area is selling with a buyer’s agent commission rate offered at 2.5% or 3% but you’re offering 2%, guess what happens? Little or no traffic, that’s what!  Remember that agents are selling homes as their livlihood, and while many will overlook a low commission, many others will not.  (When I list homes I run the CR of similar homes so that my sellers can make an informed decision on this point.)

There are many reasons why Silicon Valley townhouses might not sell. It is hard to sell a short sale listing, for instance, but many do sell and close despite the odds. If yours isn’t selling, have a look at the price, the photos, and the description and see if anything is amiss. These are the most important areas to consider.  Other issues may be at play, but if these are correct your home should sell despite other challenges.
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The Cambrian Park area is a suburban, largely residential district within the city of San Jose.  It is composed of the zip codes 95124 and 95118 plus a small bit of 95008. Cambrian has about 75,000 to 80,000 residents. 

Cambrian is known for good schools, low crime and nice parks & shops. There’s no exciting downtown area but it’s close to Los Gatos, Campbell and Willow Glen. Some parts actually border Almaden Valley too.  The areas on the far west side of this region have beautiful hillside vistas.

While most of the homes & houses in Cambrian are ranch style tract homes built after World War II, there is variety, including some very old, historic homes and some very new ones.  Some properties near the original Cambrian Village area (at Union and Camden Avenues) are on large lots – many of those old houses are now being torn down and large, new homes are springing up in their place.

San Jose, 95124 is home to about 45,000 people.  Part of this zip code runs up into the foothills and very close by.  This area is served by either Cambrian Schools or Union Schools – both excellent! (95118 is mostly a part of San Jose Unified School District.)

Browse MLS listings of homes for sale in the 95124 part of Cambrian

Below please find listed houses for sale in San Jose, 95124. 
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