How is the Campbell real estate market? Campbell is in a prolonged strong seller’s market, but this summer we’ve finally seen some cooling in this popular West Valley community.
This article, updated monthly, offers data and analysis on the residential real estate market within this popular Silicon Valley community. Here are a few details from the latest update on Campbell’s single family housing market:
Inventory of single family homes fell below the month before, but with 27 active listings at the end of July it remains above this time last year. The inventory for condos and townhomes slipped a hair month-over-month, but has practically doubled year-over-year.
Closed sales for single family homes shot up while pending sales shrank a hair month-over-month, but both look pretty stable year-over-year. In the condo and townhome market, however, closed sales grew, but it was pending sales that skyrocketted, almost double the month before and more than that year-over-year!
The average sales to list price ratio rose to 102.9% of asking, an increase of +2.6% from the month before, and up +4.0% from this time last year. Condos and townhomes also saw a growth of +0.9% month-over-month, still below asking price for the second month in a row since before spring with an average of 99.1%, slightly cooler than last year. Although the condo and townhome market is clearly softer, both picked up a little momentum.
Average time on market for single family homes slowed to a 23 day average, while market absorption sped to 43 days. While the condo and townhome market saw similar trends the averages were starkly cooler with a 60 day on market average and 133 days of inventory.
What happened in Campbell last year? Looking back, the market in this popular West Valley city saw clear market heating in February 2025 which continued into early spring. Throughout last summer we saw more ups and downs, but with growing inventory the market grew slightly calmer. By late summer, however, inventory slipped and activity picked up causing the market to heat again. Autumn kept up the momentum with minimal inventory, though the market summaries often showed lower prices, suggesting that activity may have been more concentrated in the entry-level market, which is what we saw in practice as well. While there was further cooling into winter, the data showed that Campbell closed out 2025 with plenty of demand and market heat, and severely lacking in inventory once again.
So far this year we’ve seen continued activity and interest in Campbell with market heating beginning in winter and peaking early. By late spring we were seeing some up and down month-to-month, but the June sales data signaled the start of summer with clear cooling across both markets. Although it’s picked up some in July, we’re expecting there may be some ups and downs through the rest of summer, possibly with a late summer jump in activity, before it cools off again as we approach the holidays. The Campbell real estate market remains in the seller’s favor overall, but is occasionally dipping towards balanced. Some homes are still seeing hot competition while others may be going stale.
The Campbell, CA Real Estate Market
It’s hard to predict what’s coming next, especially with so many shockwaves eminating from D.C.. Since Silicon Valley real estate is connected to the global economy and many buyers rely on stocks and mortgage loans to finance their purchase, and we have been seeing an impact on the local housing market. On top of that, we’re emerging from an already wild few years – the 2020s have been a rollercoaster ride of a decade! That said, Silicon Valley remains a desirable place to live and own property, and while we’ve seen some cooling over the last year, it remains one of the hottest markets in the country.
If you’re selling a well prepared, beautifully staged, and aggressively priced house, you’ll likely see multiple offers on your home for sale. We’ve still been seeing the occasional bidding war, especially with the best homes in the most popular markets, though it’s nowhere near as crazy as the 2021 peak. Desperate and worn out buyers want to get their foot in the door before they are priced out of the market altogether by either climbing interest rates, rising home prices, or a volatile stock market. After years of below-average and record breaking low numbers of homes available there’s still far more demand than there is inventory, especially for a move-in ready home!
All that said, we don’t expect a balanced market any time soon. The Bay Area still has a severe housing shortage and a backlog of buyers clamoring to get into a home!
Here’s a quick view of the Campbell real estate market stats from Altos Research, using list prices (not sales price) which updates automatically about once per week:
And now – here are some quick stats, pulled from the MLS (Multiple Listing Service) through the RE Report.
The Saratoga CA real estate market in July was similar to June with some mild softening. This may just be seasonally normal, but it seems to be a little more than typical.
Monthly trends at a glance for the Saratoga CA Real Estate Market
DATA REMINDER:Please note that the RE Report data is often a LITTLE different from the numbers when I pull them directly from the MLS. This is because the RE Report has a feed only of listings that were input by the listing agents directly into MLS Listings. That feed does not include anything from Bay East, CRMLS, or other MLS companies.
The average and median salele price rose annually, but fell monthly. Last July there were only 12 sales, though, so it’s not a large pool and may be skewed. The larger the pool of data, the more helpful it is.
Looking for a younger Cambrian home with not too much yard work to do? The Soterion neighborhood may be just the ticket! This is one of my favorite little pockets in San Jose, 95124. The homes are light and bright inside, it’s close to shopping, commute routes, and great schools, and since the parcels are on the smaller side, many consider them lower in maintenance.
Featured listing: 4996 Agape Court, San Jose, CA 95124
Just listed (6/1/2026), young, bright, convenient home in Soterion! Homes in this small community are rarely available. Learn more and view photos, floorplan, and 3D tour and more on the virtual tour at 4996Agape.com/ or drop by one of our open houses.
3 bed | 2.5 bath | 1,644 SqFt | 2,346 SqFt Lot | Built 1996 | Offered at $1,550,000 | 4996Agape.com/
Where is Soterion located?
The Soterion community sits close to the intersection of Camden Avenue and Highway 85, with a Park and Ride just around the corner, making this an easy commute location for many. The streets are Soterion Drive, Agape Court, Chara Court, and Phileo Court. (They are all private roads.) There is a large Safeway as well as some restaurants and other shops about a half mile away or so at Branham and Ross. If you take a tech bus to work, the nearby Park & Ride may be super convenient for you.
Map of the Soterion community in Cambrian area of San Jose. Map data: Google, boundaries and overlay by Mary Pope-Handy.
What are the homes like in Soterion?
These 20 houses were built in 1996 and feature a nicely open living space downstairs and good sized bedrooms upstairs. Because they are on the young side, these houses were designed with a lot of windows and upstairs there are vaulted ceilings (and they are also after the cutoff of 1978 for lead based paint and asbestos). There’s no front yard to speak of, but the back is larger than you’d find in most townhouses, but smaller than on a more standard San Jose 6,000 SF lot.
Have you noticed that many condos are hard to sell right now? And have you wondered what changed, why it’s so difficult at the moment? Nationwide, condominiums and townhouses are having a tough time selling. I keep reading that it has to do with rising HOA dues and affordability. That’s certainly true here, too, but we have extra complications.
A quick note about condominiums and townhouses: a condo is a type of ownership, while a townhouse is an architectural style. With condominium ownership, you’re buying the airspace within the unit plus a percentage of the common areas. A condo can be shaped like an apartment, a townhouse, a duplex, or even a house.
A townhouse is most often held in condo ownership, but not always. You cannot tell by looking at it what the ownership type is! Sometimes a townhome is a Planned Unit Development or PD, and in those cases you’re buying the outer walls, the dirt under the unit, and sometimes outside yard space.
Why many condos are hard to sell right now (in brief):
Here’s a quick list of major selling hurdles for condominiums right now. Many of these issues are particularly promienent with older construction. (more…)
Not everyone is familiar with the term “patio home” or “zero lot line” house when searching for Silicon Valley real estate. Awhile back, a listing agent of such a property called me for feedback and when I told her that my clients did not want a zero lot line home, she didn’t know what I was talking about. She had no idea that this term applied to her listing!
So I thought maybe this topic deserved a little more attention.
What does zero lot line mean?
With most houses, the structure is set into the lot or land such that the property boundaries are at least a few feet away on all sides – often 5 or 8 feet. One common exception is garages in older parts of Willow Glen, Los Gatos, downtown San Jose, etc., where often these buildings were set directly against the property line on one or two sides.
When a house is right up against the property line, directly on the line, that’s referred to as a zero lot line and is usually referred to as a patio home. To view that wall, you’d literally have to go onto your neighbor’s lot to have a look. Although this is not terribly uncommon in dense, urban areas, it’s fairly infrequent in Silicon Valley.
Why are homes designed on zero lot line properties? The main reason is to increase the density while providing more yard to the home owner. Rather than having two 8′ side yards, perhaps you’ll have one much larger 16′ yard.
Interestingly, these houses do not always sell for less with the zero lot line – at least not that I have been able to discern. (That’s counter-intuitive….)
How can you tell if it’s a zero lot line house?
It should be disclosed in the MLS as such, but often isn’t (sometimes the listing agent doesn’t even know), so you’ll have to look carefully at the neighborhood and the property to see. Here are some clues: (more…)
Why are some HOA dues so high in certain Silicon Valley townhouse or condo communities?
If you are shopping for a Silicon Valley condominium, townhouse, loft or other property that’s part of a home owners association or “HOA”, you may find yourself flabbergasted at some of the dues being charged in San Jose, Los Gatos, Saratoga, and all over Santa Clara Valley. Today we’ll go over what may be happening in them to cause this problem.
What HOA dues cover
HOA dues may cover a number of things, and if it’s a luxury complex with luxury amenities, those dues will be high:
common areas, such as driveways, parking, pool, fitness center, rec room, elevators, landscaping, golf course membership, etc.
insurance: regular homeowners or blanket insurance but perhaps also earthquake or flood insurance
reserve account funds for planned improvements may have run too low and need bolstering (repainting, termite work, reroofing, repaving, pool plastering etc.)
covering the defaults from units where the owners are in or about to be in foreclosure
some dues cover water, garbage, and possibly other utilities
special assessments for balcony or elevated wooden elements repairs
special assessments from unforseen insurance demands
Today most HOAs in California have underfunded reserve accounts. Ideally they’d have 70-100% of of the target number allotted to date, but 75% of all HOAs in the Golden State aren’t keeping up. To those boards, it seems silly to tie up today money that may not be needed for 20 years.
In the last few years, insurance has become an increasing problem for HOAs. Many insurance companies no longer want to write policies in California due to the fire risks, so we are hearing of condo and townhome communities loosing their insurance over the types of roofs or the t ypes of electical panels installed. If the insurance policy is canceled due to concerns over one of these issues, or over the fire zones, it may cost several times more in the new policy. Often that means going to the California Fair Plan and then adding a wrap around policy.
HOAs that are forward looking will try to get ahead of insurance cancelations by refoofing or addressing the electrical panels or whatever issue is in their control that may be an obstacle to regular insurance. Fixing these things is expensive – expect a large special assessment – but in the long run it’s cheaper than paying the high risk pool insurance costs.
Depending on the age of the property and the amenities, the dues may run between $400 and $500 on the low end (newer, no amenities) to close to a thousand on the high end (The Villages retirement community has extraordinarily high dues but they may include membership in the golf course too). I’ve seen some in Menlo Park closer to $2,000 per month!
“Normal”HOA dues woud be anywhere from $500 to $600 per month for a typical condo or townhome community.
Dues over $700 per month will deter investment buyers. Dues over $800 per month may deter most buyers
There are several things to beware of when buying a condo or townhouse.
First, and perhaps most importantly, you’ll want to learn about the finances:
how well funded are the reserve and operating accounts?
are special assessments planned?
how many of the members are in default, because this may ultimately cost you with special assessments. Right now that’s not a big problem, but between 2008 and 2010 and a little later, it was an issue.
Second, you’ll want to check out the grounds and common area items to see if it looks like the community is being well maintained. Do the buildings have peeling paint, patches of grass without lawn, and overgrown shrubs? If so, those are “red flags”. If there are elevated wooden elements (balconies, stairs, walkways), do they look well maintained? There should be an inspection of a representative sample from each community and that should be a part of the HOA paperwork. Check it out – repairs can be costly.
Finally, if you’re serious about purchasing a home in that community, read the minutes, newsletters, the reserve account, budget, and the rest of the Home Owner Association paperwork. Yes, it’s tiresome and probably 2-3″ thick but it’s important. (Imagine buying the home and not reading these but later discovering they don’t allow dogs – and you have a large lab! Bad all around. ) The HOA docs will give you insight on the budget and whether any special assessments may be needed down the road.
It’s also wise to hire an expert to analyze these things for you. Most Realtors don’t have the training or skills to interpret them, but a specialist does. CA Datasource is one such company and we’ve had goood experiences with them.
If you’re planning on selling a townhome, there are things to know and do which are a little different than with other types of home ownership. Correct planning and execution may increase your return on investment. Two areas to research ahead of time are these:
Correctly understand the type of ownership (many consumers and real estate professionals don’t) – it matters.
Check into the HOA finances and learn whether it will influence your home’s value positively or negatively.
Both of these should influence your pricing strategy.
1 Selling a townhome and understanding ownership types
The most important and unique thing about a townhouse sale is understanding the type of ownership for the unit, as there’s a lot of confusion about this, even among real estate professionals. We’ll explain that below.
A townhouse or townhome is an architectural style (think shape of the home), and usually it means no other units above or below it. There can be some exceptions, but that’s not common in our experience.
Co-op or Cooperative (there are only a few of these here in Silicon Valley)
Condominium ownership
Most townhomes in Santa Clara County seem to be held in condo ownership. With that type, unit owners directly own the interior of the unit (as in the airspace between the walls) and they also own a fraction of the common areas. If there are 100 units, they might own 1% (or it could be based on square footage or bedroom size). If there are garages, balconies, or patios, those may belong to the homeowner’s association, but the resident has the exclusive right to use those areas. They don’t own the balcony, garage, etc. in the majority of cases.
There’s good and bad to every ownership category. The good thing about the HOA owning a deck is that if there’s dry rot and an expensive repair, the HOA will pay to fix it (but also you pay a portion of your own plus anyone else’s rotted deck). (more…)
If you are new to Silicon Valley, you may not have heard about the popular Rose Garden Homes Tour in San Jose. You are in for a treat!
Rose Garden Homes Tour details
Each autumn, the St. Martin of Tours School puts on a fabulous fundraising event, the Rose Garden Homes Tour showcasing lovely houses in San Jose’s Rose Garden neighborhood. While anyone driving through this central San Jose area can appreciate the diverse and beautiful architecture, often the best features of these homes are found inside.
This year is the tour’s 28th Anniversary! The homes tour is a large scale fundraising effort for the school, and tickets are $55.20 via the online link below.
Tours are self-guided with hosts in each home ready to answer questions and share interesting historical facts and stories about the properties. From the tour’s website:
Each guest for the Rose Garden Home Tour will explore the inside and outside of four beautifully designed homes nestled in the historic Rose Garden neighborhood of San Jose, including curated wine tastings provided by local vineyards and shopping opportunities with high-end vendors to be discovered along the tour. Enjoy the aesthetics, discover design ideas, and learn about the history of the homes!
The tour ends with a private, exclusive after-tour celebration at Hop & Vine on the Alameda, complete with a cash bar and select menu items, of which a portion of the proceeds will be donated back to the school. You can even reserve a private table for you and your guests which includes a complimentary appetizer for your table (menu TBD)!
Tour dates this year are Saturday, October 19th and Sunday, October 20th from 10am-4pm both days. No children under 12 are allowed on the tour. Come any time within the tour hours to begin, but note that it is recommended that visitors allot about 1.5-2 hours to view every home and the tour ends promptly at 4pm. (But, as noted above, the fun continues at Hop & Vine afterward!)
The starting point in 2024 is 791 Mc Alister Drive San Jose, CA 95128.
Tickets are available at the door, online, or through families in the school.
To learn more about this year’s tour, and to purchase tickets, and more please visit the official Rose Garden Homes Tour website.
The Naglee Park neighborhood in downtown San Jose is one of the most charming and historic areas in Silicon Valley. Known for older, beautifully maintained and updated homes, it boasts an annual historic homes tour and the opportunity to enjoy the Naglee Park Open Studios periodically.
Where is the Naglee Park neighborhood?
Located just east of San Jose State University, it is extremely convenient for those involved with the college or who work downtown. Scenic Coyote Creek is its eastern boundary, Highway 280 the southern one, and E Santa Clara Street the northern edge of this community. This neighborhood is also close to the ever popular Happy Hollow Park and Zoo (which is in south San Jose, also along Coyote Creek).
You may have visited the neighborhood and not known it if you have eaten at the Naglee Park Garage, a well known local eatery.
Map of the area
Coyote Creek is the jagged eastern border.
Map data: Google, neighborhood boundaries by Mary Pope-Handy.
What are homes in the Naglee Park neighborhood like?
Houses and homes in Naglee Park are primarily older, with the most historic being constructed in 1890. The average year built is 1935 as some of the properties were put up as recently as 2014 – though that is very unusual.
Rose Villas III is a pretty Spanish style community of townhomes which are PUDs or Planned Unit Developments, not condominiums (an upgrade!). They are located along a private road but have an address of anywhere between 1634 and 1644 Branham Lane, San Jose CA 995118. The common areas offer a surprisingly abundant amount of guest parking as well as a pool and patio for the enjoyment of the residents.
Both the individual homes and the community as a whole are thoughtfully laid out and very attractive. It’s also a convenient location for commuting on Camden Avenue (which becomes San Tomas Expressway) or accessing Highway 85. Shopping and restaurants are nearby: it’s a highly convenient location.
Upstairs, many of the homes enjoy at least partial views of the hills.
And to top it off, this community enjoys highly regarded Union Schools.
What are the homes like at Rose Villas III?
There are 48 townhomes in this community. They were constructed in 1977 and feature stucco exteriors and concrete tile roofs.
The layout is thoughtful with a powder room and living spaces on the first floor, as well as the laundry closet (which is close to the front door and the access to the garage from inside). Upstairs there are two bedrooms and a bathroom between them, which is wonderful for improved privacy. Both bedrooms include two closets each and also large windows.
All floor plans the same, unless altered by the home owner: (more…)
Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley
Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor ABR, CIPS, CRS, SRES
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.
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Use this link to browse properties which are for sale, under contract (pending) or sold. Want to view only homes which are available now?
Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor ABR, AHWD, CIPS, CRS, SRES Christie's International Real Estate Sereno DRE License #01153805 408-204-7673 mary@popehandy.com “Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley since 1993”
Clair Handy, Realtor, GREEN Christie's International Real Estate Sereno DRE License #02153633 408-721-6160 clairhandy@sereno.com “Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley”
This is the Valley of Heart's Delight blog , covering Silicon Valley real estate - Santa Clara County, San Jose, Los Gatos, Cupertino, and nearby communities in the South Bay Area and lower Peninsula. Find info on neighborhoods, disclosure issues, buyer and seller tips, and housing market conditions in the west valley and most of the county.Please also see my other websites and real estate market statistics site, which are listed in the sidebar, above.
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Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor ABR, CIPS, CRS, SRES Sereno DRE License #01153805 408-204-7673 mary@popehandy.com
“Helping nice folks to buy and sell homes in Silicon Valley since 1993”
How is the Campbell real estate market? Campbell is in a prolonged strong seller’s market, but this summer we’ve finally seen some cooling in this popular West Valley community.
Have you noticed that many condos are hard to sell right now? And have you wondered what changed, why it’s so difficult at the moment?
Rose Villas III is a pretty Spanish style community of townhomes which are PUDs or 
