How is the real estate market in the Willow Glen area of San Jose?  There are multiple ways of viewing it – via price point, school district, proximity to “downtown Willow Glen”, by numbers or percentages of distressed sales (sale type), and many more criteria.  Today we’ll look at the broad market numbers for the MLS “area 10″ (all of Willow Glen) and at times just the zip code for San Jose 95125, which covers the majority of the Willow Glen area.  This post will only cover houses or “single family homes”, not condominiums or townhomes.

I ran the months of inventory for homes in Willow Glen (our MLS area 10) by sale type.  Here’s what I found – most of the market appears to have about 4.95 months of inventory, with short sales being considerably longer.  (This may have had different results had I isolated certain school areas or price points – this is a “sweeping view” of the area only.) The National Association of Realtors says that less than 6 months is a sellers market, but for our area, this is fairly “cool” and most sellers would not find the market to be all that much in their favor. (Six months is supposed to be a balanced market.)

It is unusual for there to be so little variation in the MOI, so I double checked but this appears correct. Often bank owned homes or REOs fly off the market.  Odd that it’s not happening here, too.

Next, a selection of statistics and trends in the numbers from my REReport for Willow Glen (click on link for more info) – prices here reflect sold prices (median and average), not list prices:

Prices appear down from the prior month but up from a year ago.  That’s good news for Willow Glen home owners, who hope that the worst is now behind us.  Days on market are better than the previous month (but worse than a year ago) and inventory is up from last month but almost the same – just a little less – than a year ago.  It’s a mixed bag.

The next batch of info comes via my MLS, which I pulled together using a new tool, the Realtors Property Resource.  What I like about this set is that it includes distressed properties (banked owned homes or REOs as well as short sales and pre-foreclosures).

If the lack of new notices of default continues, we’ll see a lot of improvement in the Willow Glen market.

Next let’s look at the data provided by Altos Research (which uses list prices rather than sales prices). This is helpful as it views the listing activity by price quartile. That is, you can see that “the market” for the top tier or luxury homes in Willow Glen is behaving a bit differently from entry level houses in the same general area.

First, the median list price for San Jose 95125 (which covers about 90% or more of Willow Glen), going back as far as 2005:

It looks rather dismal, taken historically, until you pause to note the recent and very welcome uptick.

Next, the same data but broken down by price quartile - I think it is very interesting that the top tier of pricing there is at almost the same point as it was at the beginning of this time period. That certainly isn’t true for the other groups!

Right now the three lower price ranges seem to be moving up while the luxury home prices are moving the opposite direction.

Same data but just the last one year – not so dramatic:

So how’s the market? If your house or the one you want to purchase is a short sale in the highest pricing strata, the market is unduly soft. If your home is a regular sale in a lower price point, it may be completely different.

When I work with sellers and buyers on “their” market, I run the numbers every which way, but tailored to the home they own or wish to own – the schools, the price point, the sale type, how many distressed homes are nearby etc. The market is not one monolithic creature, but instead is a patchwork of many micro markets.

For information on your micro-market, please contact me! Should we decide to work together in buying or selling your home, I will provide you current and pinpointed market information.

If you’ve been trying to sell your home in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Almaden Valley, Cambrian, or anywhere in the greater San Jose area but haven’t received an offer yet, don’t dispair!

With our mild winters, you really can sell real estate any time of year. 

Not only that, but in December a lot of folks DO pull their property off the market, and the result is a tightening of inventory across Silicon Valley from the months immediately prior. The ratio between listed and sale pending homes improves dramatically. (The “absorption rate” tends to improve with fewer houses, condos and townhouses listed on the MLS.)

But you’re thinking: it’s a hassle. It’s the holidays. Is this any time to sell Silicon Valley real estate?

And you’re right. So do it differently.

But before I tell you how to do it differently, it’s important to address a few key things. How is your home positioned in the marketplace? What’s the feedback been like if the home hasn’t sold?  This is critically important information you should be getting from your real estate agent or broker.

If the price is too high, the condition is too poor, you need to first address those items. All the marketing in the world won’t help if the buyers believe your house is priced too high for the current market.

Usually when a home doesn’t sell, there’s a reason and everyone knows what it is. Most often it’s price.  Sometimes, it’s the condition of the house or neigbhorhood.  (Perhaps the home or yard need tidying, staging or being deodorized.  Aggressive or smelly pets can hamper a home sale.)

But if your home is priced well, shows nicely, and it’s a mystery as to why it hasn’t sold, then read on. Time may be on your side!

When it’s a buyer’s market, it’s really a procrastinator’s market – buyers believe that if they wait, homes will be cheaper in the future. For people who want to buy now, the selection is lessening by the minute. So if you are patient, assuming your home is not overpriced or has some other “issue”, your chances of selling are improving by the moment.

Implement a “Holiday Marketing” Plan to sell real estate in December

To make life easier for the next 2-3 weeks, I suggest implementing a Holiday Marketing Program. Showings will be fewer, but the buyers more serious. Here are my suggstions:

• take the sign down – you don’t need drive-bys right now, but serious buyers
• take the lock box off the doorknob or outside hose bib and make it portable for now – use only if necessary
• make all showings by appointment only – you can leave the lock box out if need be
• forget open houses – only about 5% of all buyers actually find their home that way
• continue marketing on the web and on the MLS – buyers are there!

Homes often look their best during the holidays, and many buyers write serious offers during this time. If your Silicon Valley home is well positioned in the market and has had good feedback, hang in there! Take it a little easier the next two weeks but don’t give up. Your odds are improving!

Thinking of putting your Silicon Valley home on the market during the holiday season?

You can begin marketing your home during this time with a “low risk” and low exposure plan for now, with the same plan as above but without having your house, condo or townhouse listed on the MLS. It may be possible to sell your home “off market” via a private, quiet sale and a limited number of showings.  Although normally I do not recommend this approach (because more traffic is usually ideal), in the middle of the holiday season it can work well for you.  One reason is simply that the home shows well and buyers who DO get in to see your home realize that they are fortunate to get a “jump” on the market.

If your home does not sell in December, you can then get the property the full exposure in January without the penalty of showing long “days on market” on the MLS.  Talk to your trusted agent about this.  Or, if you are looking to hire a top Silicon Valley Realtor, please contact me today!

Whether you are looking to buy a condo, townhome, patio home, or single family home in Silicon Valley, it’s imperative that you revisit the neighborhood multiple times before deciding to buy (or to complete the purchase). This is an important part of your “due diligance” as a home buyer.

Why revisit so many times? Because certain key things may differ from hour to hour or workday to weekend day:

• - noise levels
• - the number of parked cars on the street (few is good, many suggests overcrowding)
• - neighborhood activity (good or bad: people strolling, walking dogs is a good sign – too many yard sales or other activity may not be a plus)

If you visit on a weekday morning or afternoon, the street could be relatively free of cars and other vehicles, but it might be entirely different on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon.

Conversely, if the neighborhood appears consistently appealing, quiet, well kept, and not overcrowded or loud, that’s something to appreciate as you factor in which home to buy. You can usually remodel your own home, but it’s very difficult to do a makeover on the street where you live – so investigate throroughly before you buy, whether it’s in San Jose, Campbell, Saratoga, or Los Gatos. You will be more sure of your decision and happier with the results if you do your neighborhood homework upfront.