Saratoga, California, is a delightful part of Silicon Valley that boasts low crime, high scores in schools, and strong property values. Today we’ll have a look at the list prices of homes to see what’s happening with the various real estate markets there. How are things faring amid the mortgage meltdown which is impacting most of Silicon Valley?

Here’s a graph of the combined single family home and condominum/townhouse pricing for Saratoga CA real estate – it will give you an overview of the many price points and types of homes combined.
At first glance, it looks like condos and townhomes in Saratoga are falling in value while single family homes are rising in value. Is that the case?

Of course, “the market” in Saratoga or anywhere else in Silicon Valley is dependent upon many things, such as exact location, views, school districts, price point – to name a few. It may or may not be as simple as this graph implies. So let’s take a closer look.

The following image shows pricing of active listings in Saratoga real estate among single family homes, broken down by quartiles. As you will note, the highest priced homes have shown the most volatility in this market. March and April seem to have been a low point for pricing.

We can see that among single family homes, there’s been some movement in the market, both up and down in the course of the last year – especially in the luxury home market. Right now it’s fairly positive for Saratoga homeowners, though. The high end market had a harder time in late spring, but seems to be recovering now.

Now let’s have a look at the townhomes and condos in Saratoga and find out if they are all falling, as the first graph had implied.

Sometimes there’s one segment that is doing well while others are falling, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with townhomes and condos in Saratoga right now.

I’ve seen this during other corrections too. Because condominiums and townhouses in Saratoga are so pricey, they can cost about the same as a single family home in less costly parts of Santa Clara County (Silicon Valley). Saratoga condos and townhomes tend to be of the luxury variety. When folks are frightened or pulling their pursestrings closer, they are less likely to buy a luxury item and more likely to go for necessities in my experience. In these types of correcting markets, then, consumers may prefer a house in Blossom Valley to a condo in Saratoga. Why? Less dues, more land (which is where most of the value in real properties lies).

When the market turns – and it always does, eventually – the condos may be the first to begin moving up. In a sellers market, they can often be the hottest ticket!