Santa Clara County - San Jose Real Estate News

Get San Jose real estate market trends and updates from Realtors and real estate brokers in Santa Clara county in areas like: Saratoga, Los Gatos, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Morgan Hill, Blossom Hill, Almaden Valley and many more Silicon Valley communities.

April 11, 2011

April Almaden Real Estate Market Update

The Almaden Valley real estate market, part of the larger San Jose and Santa Clara County housing markets, saw continually high levels of foreclosure and generally flat sales activity in February 2011. In February, which is the most recent period for which comprehensive and accurate figures are available, there were a total of just over 800 single family homes sold throughout the entirety of Santa Clara County. In a reflection of the general sluggishness of the regional market, the sales volume for Almaden Valley and Santa Clara County was four properties fewer than in the previous month and four more than in February 2010. For neighboring San Mateo County, the number of properties sold was exactly the same as in January, and, like Santa Clara County, four more than in February 2010. On a larger scale however, historical numbers indicate that sales activity is well below usual levels. Compared to an average February over the last three decades, 2011 was approximately thirty-two percent below expectations. In terms of median price, Almaden Valley and Santa Clara County properties were slightly cheaper than in February 2010. Over the last year, the average price of a Santa Clara single family home was $495,000, a drop of about three percent.

Foreclosures and distressed properties continued to wield a considerable amount of influence over the Almaden Valley and Santa Clara County real estate markets. Throughout the entirety of Santa Clara County, foreclosures and short sales represented nearly forty six percent of all real estate transactions. Condominium sales were one distinctly bright spot for the local real estate market, outperforming single family properties by a wide margin. Over the course of February 2011, there were forty one percent more condominium sales compared to year ago levels. High end houses were performing better than the lower and middle tiers of the Santa Clara County real estate market. In particular, properties valued above two million dollars were sold at a pace about ten percent higher than in 2010. The trend strengthened at the top, as houses valued above five million dollars saw the greatest gains.

Posted in Market Update
April 11, 2011

April San Jose Real Estate Market Update

The San Jose real estate market, found in the heart of Santa Clara County in the San Francisco Bay Area, saw slightly positive statistics and indicators in the first few months of 2011. Foreclosures and short sales, which have plagued the Bay Area for more than a year, decreased dramatically in February 2011 (the most recent month for which comprehensive figures are available), although the state as a whole continued to have extremely high levels of distressed sales. Notices of default, which start the foreclosure process, were about ten percent rarer during February 2011 compared to last month, which marked the lowest regional level in nearly a year and a half. The year over year change was even more dramatic, with default notices plummeting more than thirty one percent compared to February 2010. Although February typically does have lower rates of sales and foreclosures because of the number of days in the month, the sudden drop in distressed sales added more uncertainty to a housing market already plagued by the robo-signing scandal of last fall. The drop in foreclosures among San Jose and Santa Clara County homes for sale was mirrored by the state at large, which also saw a substantial decrease in the number of distressed sales. Overall, however, California foreclosures remained well above the national average and historical levels.

The quantity of home sales in San Jose did not move substantially in either direction during February 2011, as many residents remained reluctant to purchase a Santa Clara County property. The majority of real estate activity during the month was dominated by foreclosure activity and investors, not potential homeowners. The volume of sales was well below historical levels, as a total of 803 single family properties were purchased in February. Compared to the average February, that figure is off by approximately twenty-three percent. The average Santa Clara County home was purchased for just under $500,000 in February 2011, representing a three percent decline from the $510,500 measured in February 2010. This roughly matched the rest of the Bay Area, which remained relatively flat month over month and year over year.

Posted in Market Update
Jan. 5, 2011

Hows Santa Clara real estate market looking

The Santa Clara real estate market, found in the midst of the San Francisco Bay Area, saw an abrupt drop in median price as the risk of a “double-dip” increased. Until the month of November – the most recent period for which statistics are available – the median price had increased for thirteen consecutive months. According to figures provided by MDA DataQuick, the median sales price for Santa Clara County properties was $510,000, a decrease of almost seven and a half percent relative to last year. Santa Clara homes have been sold with less frequency for more than half a year, a phenomenon which has been largely attributed to economic uncertainty and hesitant lending practices on the part of banks. The drop in the average price is attributable to a number of factors, although it appears that the type of homes which were sold in November 2010 may have been important. Specifically, homes worth more than half a million dollars composed a lower percentage of the properties purchased in the most recent tracking period compared to both month ago and year ago levels. Some local experts have suggested that this may have been the result of investment-oriented buyers waiting for more favorable conditions.

The nationwide real estate market is facing a possible “double-dip,” according to a recent report by Standard&Poor’s/Case-Shiller. According to that home price index, there were more unsold homes and fewer home sales in recent months, indicating that the artificially stimulated real estate rally may soon reverse itself. However, local experts believe that the Silicon Valley, including Santa Clara homes for sale, may weather the storm and avoid slipping into negative territory. One expert with DataQuick suggested that Silicon Valley may remain strong going into the next tracking period because of the comparatively stronger economy in the region. The report indicated that the hardest hit areas in upcoming months will be those with a fragile economy, likely excluding the Valley and surrounding regions. Local drops in median price and sales volume can likely be attributed to seasonal drops, suggesting that the falling figures may not be the result of an inherently weak economy but rather just a cyclical phenomenon.

Posted in Market Update
Nov. 11, 2010

Milpitas real estate market update

Located right in the center of high-tech Silicon Valley, the city of Milipitas, California, is just north of San Jose in Santa Clara County and counts more than 60,000 residents. The city is home to a number of high-tech companies' headquarters, and residents here tend to be rather well-off, with many of them employed in the local high-tech sector. Because the city's residents are more affluent than average, Milpitas real estate prices are correspondingly higher. But not even an affluent population could save the community from the scourge of the financial crisis that has been in effect over the past couple years, taking a hit on the real estate sector here, as elsewhere. Residents saw the values of their homes plunge within just a few months while the number of foreclosures in Milpitas rose and even many of those interested in buying homes in the neighborhoods here found themselves unable to secure financing as banks tightened their lending.

Though many markets across the nation are still roiling from the effects of the crisis, Milpitas is actually beginning to look better, as many indicators show prices are finally rising again instead of in a seemingly endless fall. In September, the most recent month for which statistics are available, according to the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors' monthly statistics, there were 48 new Milpitas homes for sale listed, bringing the total inventory up to 137 homes. These figures were down slightly from the previous month, when 53 new homes were listed for a 140-home inventory, but the inventory has risen considerably from a year earlier. In September 2009, there were just 85 homes on the market. Sales volume has remained basically steady, with 26 homes sold in both September and October of this year, down slightly from last September, when there were 34 sales. Days home are spending on the market remains likewise. In September, the figure was 71 days, up a few from August's 65 days but down by one from a year ago. And in prices, Milpitas single-family homes are showing improvement. The average sales price in September was $563,000, up by $6,000 annually. The median price rose even more, up to $520,000 in September, from $450,000 a year ago.

Statistics in the Milpitas condo market have shown similar signs as the housing market. In September, there were 23 new listings of condos for sale in Milpitas, bringing the month's inventory total to 88. Inventory has more than doubled since a year earlier though. In September, the figure was 88 and in August it was 86; in September of 2009, however, there were just 39 condos on the market.  Despite the rising number of condos for sale, sales volume has remained mostly steady. There were 10 sold in September, down from 12 in August and down annually from 13. The number of days condos spend on the market before selling, however, has improved drastically from a year ago. In September, the figure was just 37 days, versus 129 days a year earlier. Prices too show promise, even if increases are small: the average price rose to $292,000 in September, $10,000 higher than in August but off by $3,000 from a year ago. The median price, however, rose on both a monthly and annual basis to $265,000 from $255,000 in both cases.

Posted in Market Update
Nov. 5, 2010

Los Gatos real estate market update

An upscale Silicon Valley community home to a population of around 30,000, Los Gatos, California, is in the San Francisco Bay Area in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Los Gatos residents are mostly affluent; the area had an average median annual household income in 2007 of more than $116,000. Because most residents are on the higher end, so too is Los Gatos real estate, most of which consists of single-family residential homes, with older, smaller homes near the downtown region and larger, specially built new homes in the city's outlying areas. As with other cities in California, this city's market has taken a downturn in the past couple of years as the national economy has tanked, spurred on by the subprime mortgage crisis.  Prices here have plunged, and the number of troubled homeowners has skyrocketed, as has the subsequent number of foreclosures in Los Gatos, proving that even wealthy neighborhoods are not immune to the effects of a recession. But things are beginning to look up for the city, and prices are bouncing back up, if only slightly.

According to statistics from the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, in the month of September there were 190 Los Gatos homes for sale, 57 of which were new listings for the month. This inventory was up from a year ago, when inventory was just 174, but it was up by just two from August's inventory. Homes spent an average of 99 days on the market before selling in September, a bump up from a year ago, when that figure stood at just 72 days, and up substantially from August's average of 68 days. There were 33 homes sold in Los Gatos in September, an improvement over figures from a year ago, when just 22 sales were made. August saw volume of 26 homes. The average price rose slightly year-over-year, from $1.15 million to $1.33 million, but the median price actually declined a bit on an annual basis to $1.13 million from $1.18 million.

The Los Gatos condo market saw more signs of struggle, as prices continue to stagnate and fall, bad news for sellers but signs that it could be a good time for buyers looking for a bargain to make their purchase. There were 15 new condo listings in Los Gatos in September, compared with 13 a year ago and 15 in August, bringing the month's total inventory to 54, up annually from an inventory of 46 last year. The number of days condos in Los Gatos spent on the market before selling remained basically unchanged from a year ago, to 74 days from 71 days. There were eight condos sold in Los Altos in September, compared with six a year ago and six in August, a slight improvement. Condo prices continue to fall on a year-over-year basis. In September, the average price was $672,500, down from September of 2009's figure of $753,000. The median price, meanwhile, fell as well, from $741,500 to just $694,000.

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Posted in Market Update
Nov. 5, 2010

Los Altos real estate market update

An affluent community in the northern California Bay Area's Silicon Valley, the Los Altos community is a mid-sized city with a a high median household income – measured at more than $158,000 in 2007. It lies near the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula. Because the community makeup tends to be more wealthy than many others in the region, Los Altos real estate tends to also draw higher prices, but it homes here can also maintain their values better because of the unceasing high demand for real estate in the area. But Los Altos was not immune to the effects of the financial crisis, and the past several years have seen home values plummet and inventory soar as the number of foreclosures in Los Altos rose correspondingly with the shape of the local economy.

According to local statistics from the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, in the month of September there were 85 Los Altos homes for sale, 51 of which were new listings for the month. This inventory was basically unchanged from a year ago, down by just one, but it was up by more than 20 from August's inventory, showing that a number of new houses were brought on the market during this month. Homes spent an average of 43 days on the market before selling in September, a marked improvement from a year ago, when that figure stood at 91 days, and a slight improvement on August's average of 52 days. There were just 19 homes sold in Los Altos in September, down from both a year ago and a month ago, which both saw monthly sales of 29 homes. The average price rose slightly year-over-year, from $1.64 million to $1.68 million, but the median price actually decline on an annual basis to $1.48 million from $1.62 million.

The condo market in Los Altos is not as large as its single-family residential home market, so statistics are more scarce. There were eight new condo listings in Los Altos in September, compared with six a year ago and 11 in August, bringing the month's total inventory to 23, down just one from a year ago but up from just 16 in August. The number of days condos in Los Altos spent on the market before selling surged from a year ago, to 88 days from just 34 days; in August, the figure was even higher, at 120 days, showing that many condos are spending several months on the market before selling due to low demand. There was just a single condo sold in Los Altos in September, compared with two a year ago and two in August. Since the market is small, there are usually not too many sales in one month, so it can be hard to draw statistics like price. Nonetheless, the one condo sold in September sold at a price of $1.1 million, which was higher than the average of the two that sold a year ago, $720,000.

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Posted in Market Update
Oct. 28, 2010

Cupertino real estate market upadte

The Cupertino real estate market, a high end portion of the Silicon Valley housing sector, saw a slightly elevated rate of default filings and a substantial decline in the number of notices of sale in the most recent available figures. The overall trends of the market seem to suggest that the worst has passed for the area, and that the long-term trend will hopefully be positive. An October 12, 2010 article from the San Jose Mercury News stated that “As the uproar grows over the slipshod way some of the nation's largest lenders have handled foreclosures, a survey released Tuesday shows that foreclosure rates flat-lined in September in Silicon Valley. And while California has sidestepped much of the national drama, experts were divided over the possible future impact on homeowners now that Bank of America has temporarily put the brakes on all foreclosures nationwide. Mirroring the statewide trend, Santa Clara County saw notices of default filings, the first step in the foreclosure process, bump up 1.75 percent, while notices of sale, the final step, were down 17.81 percent. San Mateo County showed default filings drop 9.86 percent and sale notices dip nearly 16 percent from a month earlier. All four figures showed sizable drops from September a year ago…For the time being, though, there are indications that the entire foreclosure machine is stuck in low gear. For example, according to the survey, for the past three months the number of foreclosures canceled by lenders in Santa Clara County has declined, including a 15.6 drop in September.”

A senior economist seemed to indicate that Cupertino homes for sale and other properties in the Silicon Valley should see a positive trend in upcoming months, according to an October 18, 2010 report by Rose Meily. The article, found in the San Jose Mercury News, noted that “In an upbeat message at last week's annual membership meeting of the Silicon Valley Association of Realtors, Lawrence Yun said he believes "the worst in [home] sales is clearly over."…Yun supported his claim with data that shows, particularly in the San Francisco-San Jose area, the bottom has already occurred and prices are beginning to firm up. He stressed all real estate is local, and the Silicon Valley region is fortunate because many people want to live here, so demand for housing is high. California's housing market recovery started even before the homebuyer tax credit, according to the national economist.”

Posted in Market Update
Oct. 28, 2010

Campbell housing market update

The Campbell housing market, a subsidiary of the larger San Jose and Santa Clara County real estate markets, faced a mixed picture in the most recent tracking period, as local experts predicted marginal increases in sales and median price. According to an October 11, 2010 report from the San Jose Mercury News, “Due to a weak economic recovery, California home sales for 2010 will most likely decline, but home sales are expected to pick up slightly in 2011, according to the California Association of Realtors' "2011 California Housing Market Forecast." The group's forecast was released last week and states California home sales for 2010 are expected to decline 10 percent from the 2009 sales figure of 546,500 homes sold. Home sales in 2011 are then projected to increase slightly by 2 percent to 502,000 units compared with a projected 492,000 units in 2010. After two consecutive years of record-setting price declines, the median home price in California is projected to climb 11.5 percent this year to $306,500, and then increase another 2 percent in 2011 to $312,500. The report indicates minor improvement in the housing market in 2011 will be driven by the slow pace of recovery in the economy and modest job growth. Officials are positive about next year's market, but continue to note the movement back to a vibrant housing market will take time.”

Campbell homes for sale, as well as other homes for sale in San Jose, are still reacting to the expiration of the federal housing tax credit, according to an October 4, 2010 article also from the San Jose Mercury News. This piece noted that “The statewide median home price posted its 10th consecutive year-over-year gain in August. The median price of an existing, single-family detached home sold in August 2010 was $318,660, an 8.6 percent increase from $293,400 in August 2009, and up 1.2 percent compared with July's $314,850 median price. In Santa Clara County, August home sales fell 11 percent from the previous month and were down 13.7 percent from August 2009, but the median price for an existing, single-family home continued to rise. The August median home price was $633,250, up half a percent from the previous month and up 14 percent from the previous year.”

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Posted in Market Update
Sept. 22, 2010

Cupertino real estate housing market

Situated in the heart of Silicon Valley, Cupertino, California, is a city with a population of just over 50,000 in suburban Santa Clara County on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley. Cupertino is a high-tech hub and is most famously known as the home to the headquarters for Apple Computers. Because Cupertino is fueled by such a high-tech industry, it tends to attract many highly skilled workers who find employment in the many companies based in and around here, pushing up the demand for Cupertino real estate and making homes for sale in Cupertino some of the most pricey in the region.

Immediately after the financial crisis's effects began to take effect across America, the city no felt some pain as well and saw its median prices fall and the number of Cupertino foreclosures rise. However, this city has been more resilient than many of its neighbors and has been able to sustain the market mostly because the demand for real estate here remains so high. According to the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, which compiles monthly statistics on real estate sales in the county, the month of July saw positive signs in both the Cupertino housing market and the Cupertino condo market, as both sectors saw prices slowly working their way back up.

In July, there were 66 new homes listed for sale, a number that has remained steady over the past year. The inventory in July fell from a year earlier, to 108 from 136 as some more homes were snatched off the market. The number of sales has also been mostly constant, with 39 sales in July of this year and 38 sales in July of last year. The number of days homes spent on the market before selling has fallen to just over one month per home, at 40 days, while it was 55 days a year ago. The prices meanwhile show signs of a surge. The median price for a home sold in July was $1.12 million, up from a year ago at $1.02 million.

The condo market showed most of the same characteristics during the month of July, with 16 new condos listed for sale, up only slightly from last year's 12, and a total inventory of 42, up from 33 a year ago. The sales volume rose annually, with 18 condos sold in Cupertino this month versus just seven sold in July of 2009. The higher inventory has also meant more days on the market for condos before selling. In July, the average condo had spent 78 days up for sale before closing, while that figure was just 42 days last year. But the good news -- for sellers and those looking for a solid investment in their home -- is that prices have begun to rise back up. In July, the median sales price for a condo had rise $7,500 annually to $647,500. The average price, likewise, was up about $15,000 from a year ago.

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Posted in Market Update
Sept. 22, 2010

Campbell real estate update

Campbell, California, is a city in Santa Clara County in the northern part of the state. The community has seen its share of adverse effects from the financial crisis that has plagued the U.S. over the past couple of years, triggering a collapse in the American residential real estate market. As a result, Campbell real estate has seen a decline in its value, a rise in troubled mortgage-holders and the number of foreclosures in Santa Clara and a buildup of inventory.

According to the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, which compiles regular monthly housing statistics on the cities in the area, in July, the most recent month for which statistics are available, there was a total inventory of 102 Campbell homes for sale. This was down from June's 118 but up from a year ago, when there were 90 homes on the market. There were 31 new listings, representing a drop in the number of new home listings from both the previous month, at 46, and a year ago, at 35.

The number of sales per month has remained mostly constant since last year, with 30 homes sold in Campbell in July versus 26 in June and 24 in July 2009. The number of days homes are spending on the market before selling seems to be slowly falling as well. In July, that number was 52 days, down by two days from June and down by 12 days from the figure a year ago.  Campbell also is one of the few markets where home prices seem to be slowly beginning to pick back up. In July, the average price for a home was $725,260, up by about $90,000 from its year-ago figure. The median, too, was up, to $681,500 from $672,500 a year ago.

The market for condos in Campbell seems to show signs of a bit slower of a recovery than the residential single-family homes market. In July, there were 19 new condos listed for sale but only three condos sold, not a good turnover rate. Only three condos sold despite the fact that a month prior in June, that clip was 13. The number of days on the market saw a drop in June, but this month it rose back to 77 days, virtually the same level it was at a year ago. Prices, too, have shown reluctance to rise. The average condo price in July was $412,600, down by more than $100,000 from the same time one year ago, while the median figure stood at $430,000 down annually from a figure of $505,000.

Posted in Market Update