Silver Leaf Park in the Santa Teresa area of San Jose
How’s the Santa Teresa real estate market? The scenic Santa Teresa area of San Jose is popular as it’s a bit more affordable, offering lovely views of the hills and public schools that seem to be improving over time, making the area more desirable. These positives appear to be helping that district hold its value well. Here are a few details from the latest monthly market update for Santa Teresa single family homes (read the full analysis below):
Inventory rose a hair from the last month, but was below half of what it was this time last year for single family homes. In the condo and townhouse market, however, inventory has remained fairly consistent with slight growth month-to-month and year-over-year.
Closed sales grew and pending sales held stable month-to-month in the single family home market, and both have barely budged year-over-year. For condos and townhomes, closed sales held stable while pending sales shrank from the month before, both falling short of this time last year.
The sale to list price ratio skyrocketed, however that might in part be due to limited sales causing major swings (like the -5.4% drop we saw here last month) for market data. Both parts of the market are now averaging over list price, with single family home sales averaging 103.9% of asking. Both markets are also up year-over-year.
The average time on market sped up, now under a month for both sectors. t
To begin our analysis below, we have some live data feeds organized by zip code.
Santa Teresa (our MLS Area 2) includes a small bit of the 95123 zip code, which tends to be more expensive, but most of that zip code is Blossom Valley, so we will omit it. The 95138 zip code is about half Santa Teresa and half Evergreen (more expensive area), so take those numbers with a big grain of salt. I find the 95119 zip code to be most helpful, but even then, the school district is divided between Oak Grove and Morgan Hill. Take all of this data with a pound of salt, and remember that these micro markets can have a big impact!
Weekly update from Altos Research with a “market profile” of San Jose’s Santa Teresa area, zip code 95119 for single family homes / houses:
When there’s not enough data, the fields will be blank. Click any of these tables to go to the full report.
Silver Leaf Park in the Santa Teresa area of San Jose
A scenic, more affordable part of San Jose with excellent freeway access is the Santa Teresa region, which is perhaps the southernmost part of the populated city. (The Anderson Lake area is partly in San Jose, and Coyote Valley is mostly in San Jose, but it’s not too populated.)
The east foothills and the Santa Teresa foothills create pleasant views and some areas are still rural. Price ranges have a wide gap between lowest and highest, with some luxury properties in some of the hilly eastern side. Most of the homes for sale, though, are less than the median or average for San Jose as a whole.
Where is the Santa Teresa area?
Per the MLS, the Santa Teresa district of San Jose spans a few zip codes 95119, 95138, 95139 and a little bit of 95123 north of 85 and the 95119 zip code. (The city of San Jose has a different map that includes far more of 95123.)
An easier description might be the area close to where Highway 101 and Highway 85 intersect in South San Jose, or the area through which Santa Teresa Boulevard runs. It is mostly north of the Coyote Valley, it borders on Blossom Valley and the southern part of Evergreen, and is just over the hills from the Almaden Valley. It truly is South San Jose, and part of it even has Morgan Hill Schools, though most of the area is served by the Oak Grove School District.
The most confusion seems to stem from where Blossom Valley ends and Santa Teresa begins. The answer is Cottle Road.
The Santa Teresa foothills include gorgeous, large open space, the Santa Teresa County Park. It’s a wonderful place to walk or hike, and for suburban dwellers, easy access to rural or natural space, even within the city.
Some of the better known neighborhoods in Santa Teresa are these:
Avenida Espana (95119 zip, has Morgan Hill Schools – Bernal Road is the cutoff)
Chantilly (95119 zip, has Morgan Hill Schools)
Edenvale (kind of a sub-district)
Sunspring
Silver Leaf (near Silver Leaf Park, between Monterey Highway & Hwy 101 – 95138 zip code)
Basking Ridge (newer homes on a small hill just over 101 – one of the last subdivisions you see before hitting the open countryside, north of Metcalf Road – 95138 zip code)
High Voltage Power Lines from around the West Valley.
High voltage power lines are a “location issue” that impacts real estate values, and it sometimes elicits worry regarding safety.
High voltage power lines: how far is far enough?
Something we have spoken about recently with our clients is being far enough away so that if the tower and high voltage power lines were to fall, they’d miss your home and property. In our recent series of atmospheric rivers in January 2023, in San Jose one of these large transmission towers did fall down. It’s rare, but not impossible.
I have not seen a website that can tell us how tall any given tower is, but from what I have read online, it seems that most of them are under 200 feet tall, but some could be higher than that. In most cases, that puts the lines about 4 houses away if the lots are a typical 6,000 SF lot of 60′ across the front and 100′ deep.
We cannot speak to the concerns around potential increased risk of cancer or other problems. Each consumer should research that issue on his or her own.
Where are the high voltage power lines?
Map data from California Energy Commission “California Electric Transmission Lines” Interactive Map
Years ago, I painstakingly mapped out the transmission lines from what I knew on the ground and what I could tell from tracing the Google satellite view. (You can find that link near the bottom of this article.)
Today, though, there’s something better than my map available online. The California Energy Commission has a map of the transmission lines that you can view usingTHIS LINK. Or click on the image at the left.
From the landing page you can zoom in or out. It covers the entire state of California – you might find it interesting to navigate around a little.
Also, a few years ago, PG&E published an interactive map where you can view the location of electric lines (I’ve filtered the imbedded map below to show Electric Transmission Lines in the South Bay), and another map of natural gas pipelines, searchable by address. This doesn’t cover the entire state, but it does cover all of the Bay Area / Silicon Valley.
Note: Over the last few years each these maps have moved around a handfull of times and changed URLs. We do try to keep the links updated, but if the link is broken it doesn’t mean the map no longer exists – do a little hunting on Google or within the site and you should be able to find the map.
The PG&E map:
On the map I hand-drew at the bottom of this article I did also include the location of schools. Quite a lot of schools do have transmission lines present.
What other location issues are there to factor in? (more…)
Home values in Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, have been going through the roof ever since Google announced that it was going to expand into downtown San Jose. Communities like Cambrian, Willow Glen, Blossom Valley, and Santa Teresa were seeing values rise at a good clip prior to the announcement. But since Google essentially put the golden shovel into the ground – in theory – the prices turned straight up, like a geyser. Santa Clara County appreciation has perhaps never been stronger than it is right now.
Realtor Property Network, or RPR, is a tool available to those of us who are dues paying members of the National Association of Realtors. Tonight I was looking at the data for a few communities within Santa Clara County, and was amazed at the appreciation over just the last month in some of them. Here’s what I found:
The more expensive areas, such as Los Gatos, are appreciating nicely – but not at the same rate as the more affordable areas like Blossom Valley and Santa Teresa (both districts within the sprawling city of San Jose).Santa Clara County Appreciation as whole has risen 21.77% since a year ago.
What does that mean?
In terms of dollars and sense, it can mean seeing your whole down payment disappear. Those who have cautiously waited on the sidelines have seen the value of their buying power shrink while they studied the market and looked for a good deal.
In Santa Teresa, the median home price this last month was $965,000 and the average home price was $981,000 (per my Silicon Valley Real Estate Report). Six month ago, those numbers were $875,000 and $896,000. Home prices have gone up about $14,000 – $15,000 per month (based on the median and average sale prices).
While I was mid way through my research, the RPR site went off for scheduled maintenance. I was going to check Saratoga and Cupertino next to see if my theory holds true that this rising tide (i.e., Google) is mostly floating the boats in the most affordable areas. That will have to be continued.
At my office meeting yesterday, I heard many real estate agents tell tales of woe for their buyers, who were going up against 20 to 30 or 40 other competing offers – or more!
It is, indeed, a challenging time for home buyers. For home sellers, it’s a dream – as long as they don’t also have to buy here in Santa Clara County or anywhere else in Silicon Valley.
Interested in buying or selling in Santa Clara County, or nearby? Please give me a call and we can schedule a time for a confidential consultation.
On Tuesday of this week I was showing some nice folks around the San Jose area. As part of our tour, we stopped in at Valley Christian High School (south San Jose – Santa Teresa area). The sky was clear and the views spectacular! (Sadly, the camera washed out the beautiful blue sky and made it appear white.)
From here we were looking at the Santa Teresa Foothills ((lowest, closest hills). In front of them are the Santa Teresa & Blossom Valley areas of San Jose. Behind them is Almaden Valley.
Along the coastal range in back, the peak on the far right (with a flat area) is Mt. Umunhum. To the far left, the higher peaks are where you’ll find Loma Prieta.
Fifty years or so ago, San Jose was still a very agricultural area. The Blossom Valley and Santa Teresa neighborhoods enjoyed great open spaces, farmland and orchards. Today that’s nearly all gone. But there is still a large, undeveloped area there at Branham Lane and Snell Avenue (the border area for these two districts of San Jose), not far from the Vistapark neighborhood or the Hayes Mansion area. I wonder what it will become as the valley continues to fill. Hopefully at least some of it will remain open.
Below are a couple of photos taken of this agricultural oasis last weekend, by my husband, Jim, with the mustard in full bloom. It’s a beautiful reminder of Silicon Valley’s past as “the Valley of Heart’s Delight“.
The first view is looking west to north-west:
Same area, but looking a little up and to the left – and you see part of a barn… (more…)
The Santa Teresa area of San Jose is enjoying a hopping real estate market with the number of pending sales suddenly going through the roof! (Stat below care of Altos Research, to which I have a subscription. List prices are used.)
Homes in this part of south San Jose are often selling over list price as inventory drops. The days on market appears slow, but a lot of homes that have been “just sitting” on the market are now selling.
The great rush in Santa Teresa is, of course, in response to the list prices, which have been falling steadily in most areas – and making for incredible bargains.
Here are the August sales stats for our MLS “area 2”, Santa Teresa (per the REReport, also a subscription, which uses closed sales):
Trends At a Glance
Aug 2009
Previous Month
Year-over Year
Median Price
$540,000
$500,000 (+8.0%)
$550,000 (-1.8%)
Average Price
$509,007
$506,200 (+0.6%)
$565,476 (-10.0%)
No. of Sales
15
17 (-11.8%)
25 (-40.0%)
Pending Properties
75
47 (+59.6%)
35 (+114.3%)
Active
17
34 (-50.0%)
138 (-87.7%)
Sale vs. List Price
100.5%
101.4% (-0.9%)
99.0% (+1.5%)
Days on Market
73
60 (+21.6%)
58 (+26.3%)
With more pending sales than active ones, you can see that most houses are now selling and the pace is quickening. A major player in the market conditions of this part of San Jose is the situation with distressed properties: foreclosures, short sales or homes sold under pressure as they’ve got a notice of default on the property.
How big an impact does the REO or short sale label have on a home’s eventual sales price? How much more or less will a home sell for based on the situation as a “regular sale” or “bank owned” or “short sale”? (more…)
We may be in a recession with 11% local unemployment, but affordable homes are getting scooped up with multiple offers and in many areas, inventory is shrinking.
Today we’ll look at five areas of San Jose which offer at least some, if not mostly, entry level housing: Blossom Valley, Cambrian Park, Evergreen, Santa Teresa and South San Jose.
Evergreen does have some high-end housing in Silver Creek and elsewhere, but it also provides some very affordable homes for first time home buyers. Cambrian Park is mostly middle class but it, too, has some McMansions (original Cambrian Park tract with large lots and very old homes that are not infrequently bulldozed) and some homes with views (Vista Loop area, bordering Los Gatos and Almaden Valley). Blossom Valley has some beautiful properties and many close to the scenic Santa Teresa Foothills. Overall, though, these homes represent affordable or mid-range houses for sale in Silicon Valley. When we look at them as a group, it gives a strong sense of what the market is doing generally.
The months of inventory reflect how long it would take the current inventory to be absorbed (or sold off) if no new inventory came on the market and sales continued at the current pace. Six months is a balanced market. Fewer represents a seller’s market and more reflects a buyer’s market. As you can see, April shows a push in all five districts of San Jose into seller’s territory:
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”
