by Clair Handy, Mary Pope-Handy | Mar 13, 2023 | Almaden Valley (SJ), Alum Rock, Alviso (SJ), Berryessa (SJ), Blossom Valley (SJ), Buena Vista, Cambrian Park (SJ), Central San Jose, Downtown San Jose, East San Jose (SJ), Evergreen (SJ), Market Info, Market Reports, Most Popular Articles, Naglee Park, Neighborhoods in Almaden, Neighborhoods in Cambrian, Neighborhoods in Willow Glen, Rose Garden area, San Jose (all areas), West San Jose, Willow Glen (SJ)
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 rather 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 February 2023 sale price to list price ratio for San Jose single family homes jumped to 102.0% of asking (+3.4% from last month per RE Report). For the MLS stats we pulled today, however, it shows 101.3% in February, up from 98.6%. Either way, the average home is once again selling over list price in San Jose.
- Home prices are down approximately 18% – 20% from last year (RE Report), and month-over-month it seems like the lower-price tier of the market is experiencing more sales with a higher median price and a lower average price across this city since the month before.
- The days on market shrank a hair from an average of 31 in January to 29 days in February (RE Report). When I pulled them directly, it was 33 in January and 31 in February (not shown below). Either way, it’s speeding up slightly and averaging close to a month, which makes it a clear seller’s market.
War, inflation, stock market, recession concerns – and real estate
The market slowed down at the start of winter, and realistic sellers have been positioning their homes accordingly. February showed signs of a warmer spring market on the way, although inventory and sales remain low. There are loads of micro markets that influence how well a given home does, too.
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 |
Feb 2023 |
Previous Month |
Year-over-Year |
| Median Price |
$1,350,000 (+0.4%) |
$1,345,000 |
$1,650,000 (-18.2%) |
| Average Price |
$1,434,420 (-8.0%) |
$1,558,990 |
$1,778,760 (-19.4%) |
| No. of Sales |
161 (+24.8%) |
129 |
262 (-38.5%) |
| Pending |
534 (+23.3%) |
433 |
567 (-5.8%) |
| Active |
223 (-8.2%) |
243 |
211 (+5.7%) |
| Sale vs. List Price |
102.0% (+3.4%) |
98.7% |
118.0% (-13.5%) |
| Days on Market |
29 (-6.0%) |
31 |
9 (+218.8%) |
| Days of Inventory |
37 (-33.8%) |
57 |
22 (+72.0%) |
Please keep reading below for more data and market analysis.
by Clair Handy, Mary Pope-Handy | Mar 9, 2023 | Evergreen (SJ), Market Reports
San Jose’s Evergreen district is in a seller’s market that’s heating up after early winter cooling. This article will examine the data from sales and active listings in this residential real estate market with live and monthly updates. Here are a few points from the latest Evergreen single family housing market update, provided in more detail below:
- February sales took an average of 31 days on market to sell – faster than the previous month, but over 6x longer than last year.
- The sales to list price ratio shot up to 101.2%. Last year, it plunged from 112.4% of asking in May down to 98.4% in July. While there has been some up and down since, we appear to be past the most severe drops and are seeing this begin to heat up again in the early spring market.
- Single family home sales prices in February hardly budged month-over-month, but are down about -28% year-over-year!
The Evergreen area of San Jose includes many newer homes and communities. It is a desirable Silicon Valley community as Evergreen is scenic and most of the district enjoys highly regarded schools, particularly at the elementary and middle school levels.
Evergreen Real Estate Market Report: Single Family Homes
The Re Report considers all of the Evergreen district together. Please find the full report on my Real Estate Report for the Evergreen area of San Jose. Further down, you’ll see live charts with more zip code specific details.
The market is beginning to showing signs of warming again, with February data moving from a slower winter market into the early spring growth. This is our early signal that spring is on the way.
Active inventory slipped month-over-month, and is even down from this time last year. Pending sales saw a big increase while closed were relatively stable compared to the last month and last year. Prices were relatively stable month-over-month, but have fallen are around -28% below last year. The sales to list price ratio finally turned around, rising above 100% for the first time in 8 months after steady declines, and homes on average are taking a month to sell.
Data indicates a calmer seller’s market for Evergreen’s real estate market, and we can expect inventory to remain low and interest to begin picking up through mid-winter into spring.
Trends at a Glance
| Trends At a Glance |
Feb 2023 |
Previous Month |
Year-over-Year |
| Median Price |
$1,390,000 (+1.3%) |
$1,372,500 |
$1,917,500 (-27.5%) |
| Average Price |
$1,518,820 (-0.7%) |
$1,529,900 |
$2,116,710 (-28.2%) |
| No. of Sales |
11 (+10.0%) |
10 |
12 (-8.3%) |
| Pending |
69 (+27.8%) |
54 |
64 (+7.8%) |
| Active |
19 (-17.4%) |
23 |
22 (-13.6%) |
| Sale vs. List Price |
101.2% (+4.4%) |
96.9% |
115.7% (-12.5%) |
| Days on Market |
31 (-31.7%) |
45 |
5 (+509.8%) |
| Days of Inventory |
47 (-32.4%) |
69 |
50 (-5.8%) |
Altos Research: Evergreen real estate market for single family homes or houses by zip code
95148
(more…)
by Mary Pope-Handy | Jul 12, 2022 | Evergreen (SJ), The Ranch on Silver Creek
The Ranch on Silver Creek is a newer subdivision in the Evergreen area of San Jose with the 95138 zip code (that zip code is shared with part of South San Jose on the valley floor). It enjoys a lovely knoll top location – and recently I flew over it and grabbed a nice image to share with my readers here:
Aerial view of The Ranch on Silver Creek (taken by MPH in January 2019)
What is the neighborhood like on The Ranch on Silver Creek?
Mediterranean or contemporary style homes were built there between 2003 and 2006 – which makes them practically “brand new” by Silicon Valley real estate standards! The community is set around a golf course & clubhouse and is nestled in the hills such that there are many different views available from one area to the next without leaving the neighborhood. Many San Jose area home buyers strongly prefer newer homes in newer communities, rather than a remodeled home in an older neighborhood, and this area will certainly fill that requirement. It’s a tidy area with sidewalks which invite a comfortable stroll to discover the sights.
In Evergreen: The Ranch on Silver Creek’s view of Downtown San Jose
What are homes like at The Ranch?
There are a few hundred homes, so there’s quite a bit of variety there. Entry level townhomes are nice, but fairly modest, and at the other end of the spectrum there are estate quality properties on large view lots.
Houses range from about 2,000 square feet to more than 4,000 square feet. The tiniest parcels or lots are less than 4,000 SF and are townhomes or town houses, and the largest homes, generally, sit on land sized between 1/3 and 1/2 acre (though most are not so big).
Many houses are 2 stories, but there’s a fair number of single story homes, too. Most properties include an attached 2 car garage.
High ceilings, open floor plans, plenty of windows with lots of natural light are all typical here at the Ranch.
As with most newer construction, these houses are built on slab foundations.
Evergreen the Ranch subdivision 1
What does it cost to buy a house at The Ranch? How’s the real estate market?
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by Mary Pope-Handy | Jun 15, 2022 | Local History, Evergreen (SJ), Foothill Areas, Neighborhood descriptions, Neighborhoods, Senior Living
Nestled in the rolling foothills of San Jose’s southeastern Evergreen area is a hidden gem known simply as the Villages.
As you drive up to the secured entrance, you’ll spot a sign: The Villages a Country Club Community. They take that claim to heart. A gated, community-oriented neighborhood centered around numerous country club amenities creates an immersive home for its residents. However this is a senior community, so to live at the Villages you have to be 55 or older (also known as an adult community or seniors community). Therefore many residents are retirees who are active, love entertaining guests, and don’t want to mow the lawn every week. But you don’t have to be a resident to enjoy the country club side of things.
The Villages
Only about a 20 minute drive from downtown San Jose, this area was once agricultural land with vineyards. It is still home to the impressive William Wehner historic mansion, constructed in 1888 and designed by architect David Burnham (this estate is currently closed to the public). The mansion is sometimes called the Cribari Mansion for its later owners, a name that was adopted by the first Village development. The original stone columns (circa 1891) for the estate’s original drive still stand as a prominent feature on one of the golf courses.
Today, the community is still surrounded by untouched rolling hills. And that natural beauty is staying put, as the Villages owns 550 acres of open space with community hiking trails. (more…)
by Mary Pope-Handy | Mar 25, 2020 | Almaden Valley (SJ), Blossom Valley (SJ), Cambrian Park (SJ), Cupertino, Evergreen (SJ), Foothill Areas, Golf Course Area, Los Altos, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Santa Teresa (SJ), Saratoga
With our 300 sunny days per year in Silicon Valley (at least most years!), golf is a sport enjoyed year round here in the San Jose area. Living near a golf course, or having a golf course view, is highly desirable as it provides scenic open space as well as convenience for avid golfers.
Silicon Valley Golf Homes, Silicon Valley Golf Properties
There are beautiful courses throughout the South Bay Area and it’s possible to find small condos with views of them at fairly affordable prices (Sunnyvale’s Sunken Gardens area is one of them). Today, though, I want to provide a list of homes for sale near golf courses in the foothill areas of Silicon Valley. Many of these will also be luxury homes. So the MLS list of these houses on the market which you can browse includes these areas:
San Jose areas including Evergreen & Silver Creek, Santa Teresa, Blossom Valley and Almaden; Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Cupertino, and Los Altos.
There are golf courses to be found in other parts of Santa Clara County too (Mountain View, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara and more) – let me know if you are interested in these parts and I can send you a link for searching them for similar residential real estate.
Here are a available or recently sold homes near to golf clubs:
by Mary Pope-Handy | Feb 5, 2020 | homes for sale, Evergreen (SJ)
8865 Wine Valley Circle, San Jose, is a wonderful home for sale (my listing) in The Villages Golf & Country Club, a 55+ community. This detached, single story house provides 2 bedrooms plus den or home office, 2.5 bathrooms, living-dining areas plus a family room open to the nook and island kitchen. Built in 1997, this single family home enjoys tall ceilings and abundant natural light in an appealing, open floor plan.
Feel free to visit the Virtual Tour here, or keep reading for the details!
8865 Wine Valley Circle, San Jose CA 95135
8865 Wine Valley Circle – quick facts:
- Offered at $1,050,000
- MLS # ML81778777
- 2 bedrooms + den or home office
- 2.5 bathrooms
- 2256 SF of living space
- 4977 SF lot
- single story, detached house
- built in 1997
- central air conditioning
- dual pane windows
- 3 sun tunnels
- high ceilings, recessed lights
- laundry room
- large 2 car garage with extra storage
- nearly carpet free (only carpeting is in one closet) – most of the home has wood laminate flooring
- The Villages is a senior community, 55+, located in the Evergreen area of San Jose
Island kitchen and nook
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by Mary Pope-Handy | Mar 31, 2014 | Almaden Valley (SJ), Blossom Valley (SJ), Cambrian Park (SJ), Central San Jose, Downtown San Jose, Evergreen (SJ), Market Reports, Willow Glen (SJ)
Yesterday on my way home from a final walk through on a property in Blossom Valley, I stopped by some open houses – following signs, just like a lot of consumers do. At one of the homes I spoke with a Realtor who’s starting to see a slowing in the real estate market. That hasn’t been my own experience, so I asked him about his take on things and he mentioned the rising inventory in areas where he’s active in Silicon Valley.
There are many ways to get a pulse on the market, but perhaps one of the easiest ways to check it is to see the sale price to list price ratio and the days on market. MLSListings, my local multiple listing service (of which I am a member), does some wonderful things with interactive graphs and charts, so I made use of that tool to see how San Jose is faring as a whole and also in some of the zip codes where I sometimes sell homes. The charts below are for single family homes (not condos, townhomes, duplexes, etc.) and are by zip code for all price ranges. Remember, stats are easily skewed one way or the other, and we might have seen different results if we teased it out by home size, lot size, school district, price point, presence of an in-ground pool, or any other factors. This is the “big picture”. First, then, San Jose as a whole.
What we see here is that homes are selling faster (shorter and shorter DOM or Days on Market) and a rising sales price to list price ratio. Both of these indicate a strong seller’s market for the city of San Jose as a whole. Next, we’ll list a sampling of zip codes in San Jose, primarily along the west side (where I tend to be more active in my sales) but not exclusively so. I’m putting these in numerical order.
In San Jose’s 95112 zip code, which is Downtown San Jose, it’s a mixed bag. The sale price to list price ratio is rising (seller’s market) but the days on market are also rising (softening market). This area would require more information – it could be that a few homes have been on the market for a very long time and skewing the stats, or homes in certain price points are just not selling. From this vantage, though, it looks like 95112 is mixed.
Next: 95117, 95118, 95120, 95123, 95125, 95126, 15129, 95136, 95148
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by Mary Pope-Handy | Feb 28, 2014 | Alum Rock, Cambrian Park (SJ), Downtown San Jose, Evergreen (SJ), Japantown, Los Gatos, Newer Homes, Older & Historic Homes, San Jose (all areas), Santa Clara, Saratoga
Many newcomers to the San Jose & Silicon Valley areas want to buy new homes (or newer ones). Santa Clara County, though, had a big “building boom” after World War II ranging from the 1940s through the 70s. At the end of the building frenzy, most of the land was taken. More importantly, most of the really good land was built up.
How old is the “average” San Jose home for sale? Probably about 45 – 50 years old, on average. Depending on where you’re looking, precisely, the homes could be younger or older on average.
There are some nice communities of new and younger homes in Silicon Valley, but there aren’t a lot of them. Most of the new home communities have houses on small lots. Some are near high voltage power lines (homes on Taft in San Jose’s Cambrian Park area) or next to freeways (Summerhill development off Samaritan Drive in San Jose).
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by Mary Pope-Handy | Jul 20, 2013 | Almaden Valley (SJ), Alum Rock, Alviso (SJ), Berryessa (SJ), Blossom Valley (SJ), Buying Tips, Cambrian Park (SJ), Cupertino, Evergreen (SJ), Foothill Areas, Local History, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Los Gatos Mountains, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Palo Alto, Relocation, Renter tips, Rose Garden area, San Francisco Bay Area, Santa Cruz, Santa Teresa (SJ), Saratoga, Senior Living, Willow Glen (SJ)
If you arrived into Silicon Valley via Highway 101, driving south from San Francisco, you might believe that the Santa Clara Valley, the San Jose area and Silicon Valley as a whole has got to seem to be the ugliest place on earth. Although heavily traveled, that is not the “scenic route”.
So, too, if you are looking for a place to live and are groping to find a place that is reasonably priced, fairly safe and not a terrible commute distance. You might not even have “is nice looking” on your wish list. You might not think it’s possible if all you ever see are the ugly concrete tilt-up buildings in north San Jose, Santa Clara, Alviso, or anywhere along the 237 corridor. That area is an architectural wasteland.
Let me assure you: there are a lot of beautiful places in Silicon Valley where you can rent or buy a home. But how do you find them? It helps a lot to have a local give you a few pointers. I’ll give you some tips today on finding a scenic place to live.
Hills – An easy way to find a scenic location to make your home is to settle near the hills, especially those in the west valley (the Santa Cruz Mountains or the Coastal Range) as they are green year-round. Communities at the base of the west valley foothills include, in Santa Clara County, Palo Alto, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Cupertino, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, and the Almaden Valley area of San Jose. All of these areas are adjacent to the hills or mountains and offer far better than average schools (many of them qualify as great – compare costs between these areas). (more…)
by Mary Pope-Handy | Apr 4, 2013 | Almaden Valley (SJ), Blossom Valley (SJ), Cambrian Park (SJ), Campbell, Cupertino, Evergreen (SJ), Los Altos, Los Gatos, Los Gatos Mountains, Market Reports, Monte Sereno, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose (all areas), Santa Clara, Saratoga, Silicon Valley, Willow Glen (SJ)
Today let’s look at the Santa Clara County real estate market, the days on market (DOM) and the sale price to list price ratio for houses and duet homes (single family homes). This will primarily be graphs that I created using MLSListings.com (our local MLS, to which I am a paying member). We’ll consider the county as a whole and various cities or towns within it, plus areas of San Jose, as it has about a million residents.
First: Santa Clara County homes over the last year. Please note the decreasing days on market, the increasing sale price to list price ratio in recent months. This is exactly what an appreciating market looks like!
Santa Clara County average days on market and sale price to list price ratio
Next, let’s have a peek at how some of the hottest markets in Silicon Valley look, starting with Sunnyvale. It is odd to see any kind of a blip on the sale price to list price ratio. Are buyers giving some push-back? We keep hearing stories of homes selling 30% or more over list price with gobs of offers. So the SP – LP ratio change is a surprise.
Sunnyvale average days on market and sale price to list price ratio Sunnyvale
Palo Alto is always the hottest ticket in town. (more…)
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 rather than the dramatic rise and plunge from mid-2022.
