Most homes in Silicon Valley come with some type of parking space for cars beyond street parking.  Home buyers want to know that there will be a place for their vehicles (and often their “stuff” too).   Garages and parking are sometimes under-appreciated aspects of evaluating real estate, so it will be the focus of today’s topic. 

Because a real estate purchase is a big ticket item, it is always important to consider the ability to sell it later.  (Always buy with selling in mind!)  Will it be hard to sell it in the future if it is not a red-hot sellers market?  Parking can greatly impact “resale value” and overall desireability to a large portion of consumers.   If you are evaluating a condominium, townhouse, or planned unit development home with private roads and parking, there will be some special concerns that may be a little different than if you were purchasing a single family home. We’ll consider both.

General principle:  In all types of housing in the San Jose area, usually the most highly desired type of parking arrangement is an attached garage.  This is not true in all cases but is generally true.  You would not find homebuyers interested in historic homes (Victorian, Spanish, Craftsman) wanting a prominent two car garage at the front of the house, commanding the lion’s share of the view from the street. (So don’t expect to see that in Japantown, Naglee Park, or the the Rose Garden.)  But for the typical buyer of the more common ranch style home, the attached garage is expected and appreciated, and if it’s missing it’s a challenge to sell the property later because as sellers you’ll be appealling to a far smaller pool of buyers.
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Books could be written about agency law in California, but in this post I will try to make the explanation concise and understandable. Please know that agency is different from state to state, so your experience of it outside of CA may be very different from it here.

An agent is essentially a person who or entity which acts on behalf of another in a transaction involving a third party.  We often have “agents” involved in real estate transactions, of course.

An agent has not just a duty of “fair and honest dealing”, but so much more. The agent has a fiduciary relationship with the client. That is, the agent (or agency or licensee) must do what is in the client’s best interest (even if it is not in the agent’s best interest). It is as if the agent is an informed clone of the client, almost like a power of attorney but without signing ability.  The agent’s job is to protect the client and to negotiate for the client the best possible deal, the smallest possible risk, and so on.

To non-clients (that is, to customers), the agent still has a duty of fair and honest dealing. So the agent should not lie or mislead, but the agent doesn’t have to educate or strategize for the other size. When a Realtor has an open house at his or her listing, for instance, he or she has an affirmative obligation to try to get the client’s home sold at the best possible price. The Realtor may not tell a buyer the lowest amount a seller might take for the property unless the seller has expressly given that permission (preferably in writing).

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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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If you’ve been trying to sell your home in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Almaden Valley, Cambrian, or anywhere with good schools but haven’t received an offer yet, don’t dispair!

With our mild winters, you really can sell any time of year.  And this one is a far cry from an El Nino winter.

Not only that, but in mid-December a lot of folks DO pull their homes 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.

But you’re thinking: it’s a hassle. It’s the holidays.

And you’re right. So do it differently.
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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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Things have been rough for first time home buyers in Silicon Valley. Lenders have been tightening requirements for months, demanding larger down payments and more perfect credit than at any time in the last 10 years.  This is true all across Santa Clara County, from Evergreen to Saratoga to Cambrian Park and South San Jose. Money is tight.

For those hoping to get into a single family home for under $500,000, which is possible in some parts of San Jose right now, there’s real improvement in affordability over the prices we saw a year ago. But that’s only true if you can buy! Don’t be discouraged – if you want to buy, now’s the time to begin planning.

What do you need to do to be able to take advantage of the soft Silicon Valley real estate prices?

• Cash is king, especially now – so save for that down payment
• If necessary, consider buying your first home with your parents’ help. They can put down some of the downpayment and be on title with you and you can pay them back over time. Of course, consult a real estate attorney to set this up!
• Check into the first time homebuyer programs available in your city or town
• Meet with a good lender (who comes to you by referral) to work out a plan to buy, clean up any credit issues, and investigate any other opportunities for assistance (such as programs for teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other city or county employees)

Call or email me if you’d like to talk about the possibilities of buying a home in today’s Silicon Valley real estate market!