I recently published a piece on post-tension slabs, which is more used in new construction, however it’s not the most common type across existing homes in the South Bay. While basements are not often found in the South Bay, crawlspaces are. You’re most likely to encounter raised foundation, known as perimeter or raised perimeter, also called post and pier, foundations.
Still images from historic reels shared by History San Jose showing one of the city’s suburban developments of the 1960s and the installation of this type of foundation. Click to go to the original video on Youtube. Edit: Unfortunately the video appears to have been removed. I’m leaving the link in case it is re-uploaded.
An Introduction to Raised Perimiter Foundations
What is a Raised Foundation, or a Perimeter Foundation?
A raised foundation, perimeter foundation, or raised perimeter foundation is one that supports a structure while lifting it a few feet above the ground level, as the name implies. It is called a perimeter foundation because the exterior walls are held up by a reinforced concrete stem wall, while the body of the house is supported by a post and pier construct. (In earthquake-free parts of the world, the stem wall may be brick or cinder block.) These are all names for the same thing.
This type of foundation is usually only raised around 1-1/2’ – 2’ high, one or two stair steps above ground level. Much taller would make a top-heaviness that becomes less stable against seismic force.
Alternatively, some floors might be set quite low. Two rooms in my single-story house are a step below the rest. They are still raised on posts and piers, but they are distinctly lower than the rest. This is called a sleeper floor. In the crawlspace, this translates to very tight quarters, and I have met professionals who will, and who will not, be able to work in that space.
What about perimeter and slab both in the same house?
If a home is described as having both a perimeter and a slab foundation, most of that time it means that the majority of the house has a raised foundation, but the family room or other room directly behind the garage is on slab. This is very common in Silicon Valley
What is a Post and Pier Foundation?
Post and pier (or girder) foundation blueprint, including crawlspace access point and lowered subfloor and sleeper floor.
Post and pier, or beam and post foundation, supports a structure by raising it on individual posts distributed evenly beneath a structure. Each pillar of support consists of three parts: the pier, the post, and the beam.
The pier is a vertical anchor set deep in the ground, usually made of concrete (but occasionally other resistant material like steel). The pier rises a few inches above ground level and is attached to a vertical post. The post, or column, is generally foundation-grade treated wood. This post attaches to a horizontal beam, or girder, which directly supports the floor joists. Occasionally, the pier may act as a post and connects directly to the beam, but that is very uncommon in my experience.
These type of foundations can be built without the perimeter wall, but functionally it is very different. You will often see decks built this way, including decks that are attached to homes with a raised perimeter foundation. Without the continuous stem wall the cost to construct is significantly less, but the resulting structure is more vulnerable to the forces of nature, to lateral seismic force, and to pests and wildlife. It also has greater airflow beneath, which is good in places with regular flooding, but provides less insulation from below.
Silicon Valley real estate market predictions – it’s time for a late 2023 update. As always, this is a best guess based upon the major influences that we see at play.
My Silicon Valley real estate market predictions in brief:
Home prices in Silicon Valley have been holding steady since early 2023 despite interest rates rising. This is contrary to the norm.
Inventory remains painfully and increasingly low as sellers do not want to sell. This is likely to remain the case. The bottom line is supply and demand. If demand remains strong and inventory low, prices will go up and only be tempered by the rate issue. That’s what we are seeing now. Many buyers are sitting this market out, but those who are active continue bidding prices up.
Many factors could swing the market one way or the other: Covid (new variant is more immune evasive), layoffs, the stock market, how much rates rise, a big quake, weather and disaster related issues, and more.
Home prices are up from a year ago but down from the peak. If the current trends continue, though, we’ll surpass that peak in not too long. And that is precisely my prediction.
The low point in pricing is usually in January, but sometimes a month earlier, and the contracts for those sales are ratified 30 days before that (so November or December).
Many buyers are waiting this out. I believe that they risk being priced out of the market if the typical pattern continues and we see large price jumps in the new year.
3 minute video on the current market and future predictions
Supply and Demand + Seasonal Patterns
This odd market with home prices rising despite interest rates rising comes down to highly motivated buyers fighting over a scarcity of homes for sale. Below is a chart from MLS Listings which displays the inventory of active listings of single family homes (houses and duet homes) from January 2004 to today. Since we are close to the end of September, I am including the month to date.
Take a look:
From about 2006 – 2012 we had the impact of the financial collapse with many foreclosures and short sales inflating the number of listings. Beginning in 2013, though, the market followed more normal seasonal patterns. Since then, most years the peak of inventory came close to 2000 houses on the market (except in 2017, when prices skyrocketed). From 2020 on, meaning the pandemic years, inventory has not gotten close to those levels.
This lack of inventory is the main issue, and the corresponding result is increasing home prices.
The Almaden Valley real estate market is experiencing some up and down, but remains clearly in a seller’s market. Inventory remains perpetually low, so the best homes in great locations are selling like hotcakes while buyers are passing over others that may need more work.
Almaden Valley Real Estate Market Conditions: Trends at a Glance
Next, a look at the residential real estate market statistics for Almaden, or San Jose 95120 from the Real Estate Report (a subscription that uses closed / sold data). They’re having a bit of a technical issue with their data collection, so not every number is exactly correct, however it still offers useful market analysis.
Prices are sometimes ticking up or down slightly, but overall, homes are increasing in price over time, selling fast, and well over list price. It’s a good seller’s market.
Trends At a Glance
Aug 2023
Previous Month
Year-over-Year
Median Price
$2,180,000 (+0.5%)
$2,169,000
$1,917,500 (+13.7%)
Average Price
$2,232,720 (-3.8%)
$2,319,840
$1,969,150 (+13.4%)
No. of Sales
29 (+31.8%)
22
20 (+45.0%)
Pending
15 (-28.6%)
21
27 (-44.4%)
Active
15 (-21.1%)
19
39 (-61.5%)
Sale vs. List Price
101.8% (-1.2%)
103.1%
97.8% (+4.1%)
Days on Market
15 (+12.5%)
13
21 (-30.4%)
Days of Inventory
16 (-40.1%)
26
59 (-73.5%)
And the month before:
Trends At a Glance
Jul 2023
Previous Month
Year-over-Year
Median Price
$2,169,000 (+3.0%)
$2,105,000
$2,275,000 (-4.7%)
Average Price
$2,319,840 (+0.9%)
$2,298,780
$2,566,140 (-9.6%)
No. of Sales
22 (-33.3%)
33
14 (+57.1%)
Pending
22 (-35.3%)
34
28 (-21.4%)
Active
18 (-5.3%)
19
44 (-59.1%)
Sale vs. List Price
103.1% (+1.0%)
102.0%
103.6% (-0.5%)
Days on Market
13 (-30.9%)
19
21 (-37.7%)
Days of Inventory
25 (+47.0%)
17
94 (-74.0%)
Altos Research charts for Almaden Valley real estate market, single family homes segment(more…)
Simply put, these are when a home buyer and his or her or their agent write up a bid on a proper form such as the PRDS or CAR contracts, but orally or otherwise casually tells the seller or the listing agent of a price that the buyer would offer for the property.
Communication from a buyer or buyer’s agent that the client would like to purchase the property for a particular amount of money.
Sometimes they also include some of the contract terms, such as “all cash offer” or “no contingencies” or “30% down”.
Most of the time, the buyer doesn’t want to spend the time to write it up unless there’s a verbal assurance that the seller will accept the offer.
With a verbal offer (which could be in person, by phone, by email, by text, etc.), there’s no proof of anything – no proof of funds, proof that the disclosures have been reviewed, and so on.
This is a terrible idea, whether you’re a buyer or seller. But why?
Verbal offers are not serious offers
First, there are a LOT of terms in the offer besides just the price. They include things like the loan amount and percentage (80% loan to value ratio or something else), the amount of the initial deposit and when it will go to title, whether the buyer is preapproved or not, the number of days for various contingencies, how long the escrow should be, what personal property should be included, and much more.
Often those terms are extremely important. Consider just one: all cash versus financed! Verbal offers are usually only the price being floated by.
Written offers, not verbal offers, come from committed home buyers
If a home buyer is sincere and serious about purchasing property, he or she will get it in writing and be specific about the myriad of terms that are part and parcel of the agreement. A seller cannot fairly even consider a verbal offer because so many of the terms are simply missing in action. (more…)
How is the Monte Sereno real estate market? Because the city is small, with just about 3,500 residents, there usually are few homes listed for sale or selling, and with small numbers we can get seeming volatility. This article is updated monthly with new data and analysis, so scroll down to read the latest and check back regularly. Here are a few details from the latest market update:
With so few sales and listings, Monte Sereno real estate data can swing quite wildly in the charts below so take it with a grain of salt.
This city appears to be in a seller’s market with severely low inventory, just 8 available homes at the end of August. That’s huge growth, but still a drop in the bucket for what’s needed.
There were just 3 closed sales and 2 pending sales, both up from this time last year.
August of 2022 had zero closed sales, so there isn’t much to compare the market to on that front.
There are ALMOST no condominiums or townhomes in Monte Sereno. As of August 2023, the MLS showed just 6 sales in these two categories in total – and that’s going back to 1998! And one of those, at least, appears to actually be in Los Gatos. One of the major challenges for this city is to ensure that at least some housing units are deemed “affordable.” You can find the city’s housing plan here (an online pdf): http://www.montesereno.org/DocumentCenter/Home/View/674
Because this is such a small city and there’s a tiny pool of data, please also have a look at the Los Gatos real estate market post on this site.
Below is a quick market profile for the Monte Sereno real estate market. This is updated automatically weekly, so please check back often.
Once full or orchards and farms, the Berryessa area of San Jose today is largely developed, but a few pockets of trees and agriculture do remain. Most of this district is housing, but there are also a good number of businesses. (The photo below is from a property I sold in this part of North San Jose in 2021.)
Berryessa boasts very strong commute access, including both light rail and BART as well as major auto routes. Highway 680 runs through it, and 101 and 880 are nearby. Additionally, the major airport for Silicon Valley is in close proximity, too, the Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport. For the South Bay, this is one of the most accessible areas. This and the quality of many of the schools are perhaps the area’s biggest claim to fame.
Where is Berryessa?
Berryessa is in the northern part of San Jose, set between the city of Milpitas to the north and the Alum Rock District to the south. The boundary on the east side is the East Foothills. The boundary on the west is Coyote Creek, approximately. Some resources may put it closer to Highway 101. (If you check 5 different sites, you may get 5 different answers for the boundaries on the west and south side of this district!)
Zip codes are 95131, 95132, 95133. (The MLS also includes a little of 95127, which is often thought of as Alum Rock Park.)
Another interesting, nearby area in San Jose is Japantown. (more…)
The Cambrian Park real estate market is in the midst of a healthy Summer market.
For those new to the area, Cambrian is most of the 95124 zip code (south of Foxworthy) and most of 95118 (west of Almaden Expressway). It borders Los Gatos, Campbell, Willow Glen, and Blossom Valley.
The Cambrian Park Real Estate Market
The chart below is from the RE Report. Home prices are up month over month and year over year. The sale to list price ratio slipped a little, but this market is immensely stronger than Aug 2022.
Christie's International Real Estate Sereno, Los Gatos, CA 95030 408 204-7673 Mary@PopeHandy.com License# 01153805
Clair Handy, Realtor
GREEN
Christie's International Real Estate Sereno 214 Los Gatos-Saratoga Rd Los Gatos, CA 95030 ClairHandy@sereno.com License# 02153633
Mary & Clair sell homes throughout Silicon Valley: Santa Clara County, San Mateo County, and Santa Cruz County. with a special focus on: San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Campbell, Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park.
The real estate search
Use this link to browse properties which are for sale, under contract (pending) or sold. Want to view only homes which are available now?
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Silicon Valley real estate market predictions – it’s time for a late 2023 update. As always, this is a best guess based upon the major influences that we see at play.
The Almaden Valley real estate market is experiencing some up and down, but remains clearly in a seller’s market. Inventory remains perpetually low, so the best homes in great locations are selling like hotcakes while buyers are passing over others that may need more work.
How is the 
