Cambrian Park, or more broadly, Cambrian, is a west San Jose neighborhood or district and is one of the more affordable, high-value areas in Silicon Valley. The schools are good, the crime is low, and the commute is not too bad. For people relocating to Santa Clara County, this is a place to know about since quality education and affordability are often high priorities!

What’s the compromise for the more reasonable prices of homes for sale? Well, Cambrian doesn’t have an interesting, upscale downtown area like Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga, or Willow Glen.

But it does have tons of shopping & restaurants and even a Farmer’s Market. It also enjoys a top notch hospital (Good Samaritan) and plenty of parks as well as a fantastic rec center with a large park adjacent to it, the Camden Community Center, which has tons of programs (including an after school program for youth), classes, and a fabulous pool.  (My family and I lived in Cambrian in the “Cambrian Gardens” neighborhood for 10 years and loved it – our kids made great use of the community center too.)

Altogether, there are about 75,000 to 80,000 residents in Cambrian, spread throughout the three zip codes of 95124, 95118 and a little tiny bit of 95008.

If there is a “central Cambrian Park”, it would have to be near the original Cambrian Park Shopping Center, which was the first actual mall in San Jose! That area is sometimes known as Cambrian Village.  People sometimes use the three names interchangeably: Cambrian, Cambrian Park, Cambrian Village.:

Where is Cambrian Park? Map of approximate Cambrian Boundaries:

View Cambrian Area of San Jose in a larger map

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Some first time home buyers in the San Jose or Silicon Valley area get confused by the “assessed property value” of houses, condos, or townhouses: they mistakenly think that this number has some bearing on the real estate market value.  It doesn’t.  The assessed value is used only for determining the amount of property tax being paid.

Residential real estate in California is reassessed upon transfer of title, or change of ownership, in most cases (there are some exemptions). From there, the assessed value can only go up 2% per year at most (thanks to the passage of Proposition 13 in the 1970s).  When property values decline, as they have recently, owners of properties with higher than market value assessments can appeal and get a temporary rollback in valuation for the purposes of having property taxes lowered.  This is very very common (and even so, the assessed value is usually still off as it’s based loosely on the January values of that year – the values are often higher than market value for these petitioned properties).  The tax assessor’s office has a lot of latitude in determining the assessed values; it is nothing at all like an appraisal, which should use strict comparisons.

Let’s look at a few hypothetical examples, taking tract housing with the same square footage, layout etc:

1 – If a couple purchased a Cambrian Park house in 1960 to 1970 and paid $20,000 for that property, but today’s value is approximately $500,000, the property tax being paid will reflect the long term ownership and won’t be based on the current market value.  That couple might be paying $600 to $800 per year in property taxes with a corresponding “assessed value” of about $52,000. (more…)

Sometimes the list price on a Silicon Valley home for sale isn’t at all what the listing agent or the seller is expecting in terms of a sales price.

Sometimes it’s closer to a lost leader – that is, it’s really only intended to get home buyers into the door. Lots of them. The idea is to create excitement, and hopefully a feeding frenzy with multiple offers.

Other times, of course, a house or condo in the San Jose area may be an overpriced listing. In those cases, it’s more like a “fishing expedition”. More like, “let’s see if anyone bites”. There are always a percentage of these on the market. When you see homes listed for 60, 90 or more days on the valley floor, most often the culprit is an inappropriately high price – and most buyers aren’t biting at that bait.

Right now, it’s a mixed market in Santa Clara County real estate. If you find a home you like, the next question is this: what’s it worth? And finally, what’s it worth to you? Many times, the best advice is to ignore the list price, if it’s a new home, and just do your homework on what the current competition is and what’s been selling.

You may find that the home you love is priced high, on the mark, a little low, or crazy low.

While it’s helpful to know what the average ratio is between list prices and sales price, that information can never substitute for market knowledge.  The most powerful figure to understand is the absorption rate or months of inventory (or days or weeks of inventory).  Six months of inventory is considered a balanced market.  The smaller the months of inventory is, the quicker the pace of the market, and the bigger a frenzy there is over good inventory. 
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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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How is the real estate market doing in the Almaden Valley area of San Jose? We can look at a few key indicators (median list price, average days on market, and inventory levels) to get a pulse on the current market in the San Jose, 95120, area. Graphs below are from Altos Research; I am a subscriber so may present these to you here. Data used is list pricing. (To see the most recent reports using closed Almaden sales numbers from November, please view my Almaden Valley Real Estate Report, which is from another provider and is another of my subscriptions to get the best data possible for my clients and readers.)

From the solds last month and in prior months, we know that overall, the Almaden real estate market has been deepening in the buyer’s favor. Prices have been slipping, days on the market are lengthening, and list price to sale price ratios have wavered a bit.

Median List Price for Almaden Valley Homes

The graph above reflects the list prices of real estate in Almaden Valley, which is an upscale district on the southestern side of the city of San Jose. Interestingly, while the list prices of single family homes is declining, the list prices of condos and townhomes has performed almost the opposite in the last twelve months and now appears to be level.

Among houses, is it any different from one price point to another?
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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.

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Almaden Valley, a district of San Jose with the zip code 95120,  is noted for good schools, low crime, and  beautiful vistas.  It enjoys an historic old downtown & museum where the mercury mining took place, a fabulous golf course and abundant open space with room for hiking, horses and more.

The commute is not bad to downtown San Jose and has gotten better since highway 87 was built (in addition to Almaden Expressway).  Like the Rose Garden, Naglee Park, and Silver Creek, Almaden is one of the more expensive spots on the San Jose real estate landscape.

Home types vary from modest condominiums to fabulous estate homes. A luxury property in this part of Silicon Valley is often newer and may include more land than similarly priced houses or estates in Los Gatos, Monte Sereno or Saratoga. Home buyers looking in the west valley often want to see high end real estate in Almaden Valley as well as other upscale communities nearby.
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Browse Luxury Homes for Sale in San Jose’s Almaden Valley Neighborhood

Below please view Almaden Valley real estate listings of houses, duet homes and other residential property for sale over $2 million dollars as found on our local MLS.

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 5. See more 95120 zip code real estate.
(all data current as of 2/8/2012)

1. $2,950,000 : 20315 Mckean Rd, San Jose
   
   6 beds, 3 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 5,000 sq ft

   Lot size: 2.50 ac
   
2. $2,650,000 : 18680 Vista De Almaden Ct, San Jose
   
   5 beds, 5 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 6,000 sq ft

   Lot size: 1.59 ac
   
3. $2,549,000 : 7184 Glenview Dr, San Jose
   
   5 beds, 4 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 6,251 sq ft

   Lot size: 20,473 sq ft
   
4. $2,188,000 : 18590 Almaden Rd, San Jose
   
   4 beds, 3 full baths

   Home size: 3,471 sq ft

   Lot size: 1.32 ac
   
5. $2,100,000 : 6082 Almaden Rd, San Jose
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,800 sq ft

   Lot size: 1.92 ac
   

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

Thank you for reading this Silicon Valley real estate blog.  Please remember that information found on the web is not the same thing as knowledge. For guidance with buying or selling homes in Silicon Valley, San Jose, Los Gatos and nearby areas, please contact an experienced, ethical, full time Realtor.  If you are searching for a good Silicon Valley Realtor to assist you, please contact me. I’m happy to chat with you by phone or in person for a no-cost, no-obligation initial consultation.