Santa Clara County Condo Market
Real estate statistics and trends at a glance – below please find the data for Sept 2010 and Aug 2010 for all of Santa Clara County. (View the whole report online here – Santa Clara County Condo Market Trends Report. It is updated each month between the 5th and 10th, and this link will always bring you to the most current report.)
Countywide, the condo market has had a rough few years – and this year is no exception. Prices are starting to nudge up again, but the number of sales remains sluggish.
| Trends At a Glance | Sep 2010 | Previous Month | Year-over Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Price | $320,000 | $347,500 (-7.9%) | $328,750 (-2.7%) |
| Average Price | $367,947 | $374,824 (-1.8%) | $361,880 (+1.7%) |
| No. of Sales | 288 | 330 (-12.7%) | 394 (-26.9%) |
| Pending Properties | 774 | 795 (-2.6%) | 845 (-8.4%) |
| Active | 1,148 | 1,112 (+3.2%) | 1,132 (+1.4%) |
| Sale vs. List Price | 99.4% | 99.5% (-0.1%) | 101.3% (-1.8%) |
| Days on Market | 60 | 54 (+12.7%) | 57 (+6.2%) |
| Trends At a Glance | Aug 2010 | Previous Month | Year-over Year |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median Price | $347,500 | $345,000 (+0.7%) | $330,000 (+5.3%) |
| Average Price | $374,824 | $403,846 (-7.2%) | $378,864 (-1.1%) |
| No. of Sales | 330 | 298 (+10.7%) | 350 (-5.7%) |
| Pending Properties | 795 | 839 (-5.2%) | 837 (-5.0%) |
| Active | 1,112 | 1,073 (+3.6%) | 1,163 (-4.4%) |
| Sale vs. List Price | 99.5% | 99.3% (+0.2%) | 100.6% (-1.1%) |
| Days on Market | 54 | 51 (+4.4%) | 58 (-7.8%) |
Median List Prices of Condos in Almaden Valley, Los Gatos, Saratoga and Cupertino
A stranger graph you may never have seen – it is very tangled looking! The slate blue line represents the Saratoga condo market, which I can attest first hand has been suffering. Of these four market areas, it’s the most expensive. The green line is Almaden Valley, San Jose, 95120. It has been slipping in price fairly consistently this year. Interstingly, though, Los Gatos has had a softer ride and Cupertino’s prices are rising!
The Cupertino real estate median list price for condominiums and townhouses
Next, let’s see Cupertino’s condominium & townhouse market by price quartile – below is the current median list price. Most price points seem to be doing well overall.
Spring was better than the year before for much of Silicon Valley, but only the least and most expensive quartiles enjoyed a noticeable uptick. Both groups also fell off a bit later – just like the rest of the San Jose area.
The Almaden Valley real estate median list price for condominiums and townhouses
Almaden fell hard this year! Even so, the “uptick” in spring was evident in the lowest quartile and the third one as well, but then more falling.
The Los Gatos real estate median list price for condominiums and townhouses
Los Gatos has been experiences a smoother fall than some of the nearby areas. It is noteworthy that the more expensive condos (and presumably townhouses) in Los Gatos did much better than the entry level homes did.
The Saratoga real estate median list price for condominiums and townhouses
Saratoga’s condos and townhomes also had better market conditions at the top end of the scale earlier this year, but now three of the four tiers appear to be appreciating while the topmost level has slipped a bit.
Inventory Levels of Condos in Almaden Valley, Los Gatos, Saratoga and Cupertino
Inventory has been growing in all areas but Cupertino, which continues to sell very well despite the “Great Recession”.
Average Days on Market for Condos in Almaden Valley, Los Gatos, Saratoga and Cupertino
The days on market dropped until late summer, when they began climbing again. This is a little unusual since often people just take the property off the MLS if it goes on too long. Are these numbers from short sales that drag on and on? In some cases, probably that’s an impact but not huge because the numbers of distressed properties is still low in these areas.
Please check back for updates and also visit my Real Estate Report to get info on all of Santa Clara County’s market conditions, including houses, condos and townhomes.
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Older Posts:
June 2010 post
The Condo and Townhouse Market Update in the West Valley for June 2010
March 11, 2009
The real estate market for condominiums and townhomes in the west valley area of Silicon Valley is similar to the rest of Santa Clara County in one main regard: the most expensive homes are having far more trouble selling than entry level homes.
Today we’ll look at the months of inventory for condos and townhomes in four areas of the west valley: Almaden Valley, Cupertino, Los Gatos and Saratoga. Since this is a fairly small subset of the overall residential real estate market, I’ve also looked at them as a group (upscale areas with good to great schools near the foothills) and wanted to see the overall trend when the four neighborhoods were viewed together.
As a reminder, under 6 months is a seller’s market, 6 is neutral and 7 or more is a buyer’s market.
Interestingly, the overall trend of these four areas combined shows consistent improvement in the market toward neutral, from 23.5 months in January to 8.6 months in April. It’s really very dramatic when viewed as a whole!
Cupertino area condos are faring well in the last 30 days with more closed escrows and just 8 months of inventory. Los Gatos is even better now with 6 months of inventory.
The market is much tougher in Saratoga, CA, where almost no condominiums or townhouses are selling. Those that do go under contract are in the lowest price ranges. Many properties are “just sitting”. Buyers are waiting for prices to drop. Nearly as tough is the condo market in Almaden Valley.
The challenge for luxury condo owners is that buyers now are primarily buying either for shelter or for investment. Investment buyers seldom purchase a luxury item (it’s safer to buy two small condos than one large one to hedge against vacancy).
For many condo sellers, now may just not be the right time to sell. On the other hand, if you’re moving up, now may be the ideal time since prices in the higher priced homes are fairly soft compared to “normal”.
