The San Jose Real Estate Market Analysis
The San Jose real estate market remains in transition. While it is still a clear seller’s market, things are much cooler than what they were a year ago. Demand may have shrunk, but so has inventory. We’re seeing fluctuating cooling and heating in a smaller scale than the dramatic rise and plunge from mid-2022.
First, some quick data from my RE Report via the bullets and chart below. There appears to be a small amount of undercounting or overcounting between the RE Report and MLS Listings, but the information is still good for tracking trends.
- The April 2023 sale price to list price ratio for San Jose single family homes grew to 105.3% of asking (+2.9% from last month per RE Report). For the MLS stats we pulled today, however, it shows 105.1% in April, up from 102.8% (+2.3%). Either way, the average home is once selling consistently over list price in San Jose with climbing overbids.
- Home prices are down approximately 12% – 14% from last year (RE Report), and month-over-month closed sales decreased with prices rising roughly 3% – 4%.
- The days on market shrank from an average of 24 in March to 18 days in April (RE Report). When I pulled them directly, it was 24 in March and 19 in April (not shown below). Either way, it’s speeding up and averaging under a month, making it a clear seller’s market.
Market Data: What Numbers Make a Difference
While prices and overbids have fallen significantly last year, in some ways this year has been even more challenging for buyers. For most buyers, their ability to purchase has been severely impacted by higher rates on home loans. But the biggest hurdle for many buyers is the extreme lack of available homes.
March 2023 had the lowest available listings by month in over a decade, according to the MLS data pulled today in the chart below, and that’s being repeated in April 2023.
While in a more typical market we might have a number of sellers looking to “move up” or downsize, most homeowners today couldn’t afford to move or don’t want to take on a higher-rate mortgage. Now it seems like a higher percentage of the inventory we are seeing is from investors, people leaving the area, and sales by family after a death – cases where there is no pressure to repurchase or where selling is the only option. That limits significantly what is available to buyers!
Although inventory remains low, prices haven’t risen the way they did a year ago, but high demand and some improvement in available rates has shown some clear market heating this spring. That said, there are loads of micro markets that influence how well a given home does, so take this city-wide data with a grain of salt.
Inventory remains severely low – if you’re an active home buyer, it is slim pickings!
The data below in the “trends” chart is from our Real Estate Report for the City of San Jose.
San Jose Real Estate Market Trends at a Glance (RE Report)
| Trends At a Glance | Apr-23 | Previous Month | Year-over-Year |
| Median Price | $1,530,000 (+2.9%) | $1,487,000 | $1,750,000 (-12.6%) |
| Average Price | $1,666,510 (+4.2%) | $1,598,580 | $1,924,770 (-13.4%) |
| No. of Sales | 277 (-11.2%) | 312 | 501 (-44.7%) |
| Pending | 563 (+3.9%) | 542 | 657 (-14.3%) |
| Active | 268 (+7.2%) | 250 | 407 (-34.2%) |
| Sale vs. List Price | 105.3% (+2.3%) | 103.00% | 116.6% (-9.6%) |
| Days on Market | 18 (-22.7%) | 24 | 9 (+95.5%) |
| Days of Inventory | 28 (+16.7%) | 24 | 24 (+19.1%) |
Please keep reading below for more data and market analysis.
If you love older residential areas with classic architecture and a canopy of street trees, you’ll want to know about the Buena Vista neighborhood in San Jose.
