Months of Inventory or Absorption Rate for Cupertino Real Estate

Cupertino is a red hot sellers’ market, but primarily or the most in the lower price ranges.  The higher the price of the home goes, generally speaking, the cooler the market gets.  Part of this is because Cupertino is not considered a luxury market.  Luxury homes are far more likely to be found in Los Altos and Saratoga than in Cupertino. Even so, there are areas, primarily in the foothills and west of Foothill Blvd., where high end homes can be found.

Yesterday afternoon I ran the “months of inventory” by price point in the city of Cupertino.  The absorption rate, or MOI, will tell us how long it would take for the current inventory to be totally absorbed by the market of buyers if no other homes came on the market.  The shorter the MOI is, the hotter the market is.  (Houses and duet homes only, not condos or town houses.)Have a look:

Houses up to $500,000: n/a (there aren’t any)
$500,000 to $999,999:    .2 Month of Inventory or MOI (2/10 of a month)
$1 million to $1,499,999: . 61 MOI
$1,500,000 to $1,999,999:   2.75 MOI
$2 million to $2,499,999:  infinite (3 homes for sale, none closed in last 30 days)
$2.5 million to $2,999,999: 1 MOI
$3 million and up:  n/a

It’s a little bit of a fluke that the 2.5—3 million group was “1”. There was one sale and it was just barely over the line – it sold for $2,505,000.  Had it slipped just a little bit, the group prior would have had 3 months of inventory (1 closing for 3 listings currently active). The trend is pretty clear: the higher the price, the longer homes take to be absorbed into the market.  We can fairly think of this segment as 3 months of inventory, which isn’t bad at all but is not “red hot”.

Hottest of the hot are houses listed for sale at under $1,000,000 in the city of Cupertino – they are flying off the market at .2 months of inventory, or about 1 week!  It cools as prices rise.

Cupertino Median List Prices Compared to Neighboring Saratoga, Sunnyvale and Los Altos

We know that the median sales price in Cupertino has been climbing steadily since March 1st (reflecting sales beginning in early February). How does it compare to nearby areas?

Los Altos is selling for the most of these 4 areas, but list prices are now falling. Saratoga was dippping but now rising again. Sunnyvale has been somewhat flat recently but improving. But Cupertino’s prices are making the steepest improvement. Perhaps these low prices are the drivers for the crazy hot market activity. (more…)

San Jose’s Cambrian, or Cambrian Park, area is a very hot seller’s market.  Multiple offers are not uncommon, especially in the Union School District, where schools are trending upward.  My Cambrian Park Real Estate Report has just been published with the updated numbers from the closed sales in April. Please click on the link to see much more information there.

Prices are up nicely year over year! Inventory is crazy low – just 35 homes for sale in April compared to 57 in March and 84 in April 2011. Days on market is far lower too. All around, it is a deepening seller’s market.

Even stronger is the Cambrian condo market, which is skyrocketing!!!  Please see the Cambrian Condominium & Townhouse Real Estate Report for all of the numbers, but I’ll include a quick summary below.

Here again, notice the ratio of active to pending homes, the sale vs list price (over 100%), and most of all, the tremendous rise in both the average and median sales price.  Few homes closed escrow in February, so it is possible that these numbers are a little exaggerated.  We will know more in a month – if it’s a trend or if this is a fluke.

Now let’s work with Altos Research’s graphs and get a feel for the Cambrian realty market in “real time”.  These use list prices, whereas my REReport uses sold data.

First, the statistics by quartile for houses in San Jose 95118:

Next, the stats and trends by price quartile for houses in San Jose 95124: (more…)

SOLD WITH MULTIPLE OFFERS IN 8 DAYS!

Fabulous opportunity in West San Jose – a beautifully remodeled 4 bedroom, 2 bath house with top Cupertino schools and exquisite English country garden is now for sale, offered at $1,099,000 at 1486 Larkin Avenue, San Jose CA 95129.  This is not just any ranch style home in Silicon Valley, but a lovingly and impeccably updated, remodeled and maintained home on a scenic, tree lined street.  A visit will convince you that this house has been cared for and upgraded with a tremendous level of detail and sophistication.

Top Cupertino schools, all with API scores well over 900!

Schools are a major driver of real estate desirability in Santa Clara County, and nowhere is that more true than in Cupertino and the parts of San Jose which enjoy its schools.  All three educational levels of school enjoy extremely high Academic Performance Index or API scores.

The grammar or elementary school for this property is John Muir Elementary School (API 944).  The middle or junior high school is Joaquin Miller Middle School (API 981) and the secondary or high school is Lynbrook High School (API 943).  All three of these schools are very highly regarded, and in fact prestigious.

Not just a school district – this is a marvelous West San Jose home and yard!

Lest we treat this as though buyers were only interested in schools, let’s talk about this wonderful house too.

The kitchen is an absolute showpiece with a professional grade Viking range, Vent-a-hood, granite counters, ultra hard maple cabinets (painted white), dramatic vaulted ceilings with 2 large, electronically operated skylights, and much more!  Throughout the home you’ll find high quality elements, including dual pane windows, hardwood floors (some under carpeting), remodeled baths, and on and on.  I invite you to have a look at the virtual tour, embedded below, and to read the description on each page.  There’s even more information immediately below that with the MLS information added too.

We're sorry, but we couldn't find MLS # 81217609 in our database. This property may be a new listing or possibly taken off the market. Please check back again.

How is the Monte Sereno real estate market? Because the city is small, with just about 4000 residents, there usually are few homes listed for sale or selling, and with small numbers we can get seeming volatility.  Here are the quick statistics for the closed sales in the last 4-7 weeks to give a sense of how things are going. Sales data for April comes from my Monte Sereno Real Estate Report  and data for the last 30 days comes from me via the MLS (I crunched them this morning).

Median sales price of houses sold in Monte Sereno in April was $1,415,000.  For the last 30 days, it was $2,169,857.

Average Days on Market of houses sold in April was 97.  But for the last 30 days, it’s 78.

The sales price to list price ratio in April was 95%.  The last 30 days it’s up to 97%.

The market is better all around for home sales in Monte Sereno than it was just a couple of months ago. Next, let’s look at the live charts from Altos to see how active listings reflect the market as seen from viewing the solds.

Live Altos Charts for the Monte Sereno Real Estate Market

The median list price of all homes listed on the MLS in Monte Sereno and in San Jose – an interesting comparison!  San Jose has far fewer dips and jumps than Monte Sereno….Good improvement showing recently, though.

(more…)

What’s the Silicon Valley real estate market doing? Silicon Valley is composed of many micro markets, and they may all behave independently of one another, but we are seeing some general trends.We’ll have a look at them today.  Things have really, really changed from six months ago. It’s very dramatic.

First, a city by city comparison of the numbers for the county and Campbell, Cupertino, Los Gatos, Saratoga, San Jose (as a whole), Sunnyvale, etc. This first chart is for houses in the cities and towns of Santa Clara County. On the first line, which is for the entire county, please notice the sales price to list price ration – it is over 100%.  This is perhaps the best indicator of the market heat we see here.  Also note how low inventory is for the county – from a year ago, it’s off 29.2% (and that year was low also).

Santa Clara County residential real estate statistics by city for single family homes March 2012

Perhaps not surprisingly, the sales price to list price ratio is highest in Palo Alto, where it was nearly 109%. Mountain View came in at 103%, Cupertino and Los Altos at 102%, Los Gatos, San Jose and Sunnyvale at a little over 100%.  Some areas, such as Monte Sereno, have so few sales that their numbers fluctuate wildly (in the case of Monte Sereno, best to look to similar areas of Los Gatos for the best sense of pricing, usually, as they share schools, parks, police etc.).

Next, the same type of data but for condominiums and townhouses rather than houses & duet homes:

Santa Clara County residential real estate statistics by city for condos & townhomes March 2012

The condo market has been taking a beating for years, but at long last, the sales price to list price ratio is now very close to 100% (99.9% for the county) and many areas are more than 100%: Campbell, Cupertino, Los Altos, Milpitas, Mountain View, and Palo Alto. Most of the rest of the county is at 99% with just a couple of exceptions.  What’s happening? The inventory here tells the story: county wide, it’s down 74% from last year.  In Campbell and Los Altos it’s off 75%.

Inventory is at record lows, buyer demand is way up: we have a strong sellers’ market with multiple offers and overbids

First, there’s extremely low inventory. In February there were just 1389 single family homes for sale in Santa Clara County.  A balanced market is somewhere around 3000 homes – so this is quite severe!  In fact, it’s the lowest amount of inventory for any February going back 10 years.  Here’s what it has looked like in other Februarys, per my Santa Clara County Real Estate Report (you can see these numbers yourselves): (more…)

The Oaktree Park neighborhood in San Jose is a scenic residential community with wide appeal to home buyers due to good Almaden schools, close proximity to large parks and is one of only a few areas in Almaden Valley which includes a cabaña and swim team.  Additionally, this area is very convenient as it’s  close to schools, shops and commute routes to downtown San Jose and much of Silicon Valley. It is a fairly intimate neighborhood with 156 homes.

Where is the Oaktree Park neighborhood?

The Oaktree Park subdivision is within the boundaries of Meridian Avenue, Redmond Avenue and Mcabbe Road on three sides and the Jeffrey Fontana Park on the north side.

The census bureau (and perhaps also the city of San Jose) has attributed names to some parts of Almaden and this neighborhood falls into the Crossgates section.  I do not believe that most residents refer to this area that way, though.  Perhaps more likely they’d call it part of the greater Fontana Park neighborhood.

Oaktree Park Neighborhood in San Jose (Almaden Valley area of SJ) - click on image above to go to live Google Map

What schools serve the Oaktree Park neighborhood in San Jose?

The public schools for Oaktree Park are within the San Jose Unified School District:

Los Alamitos Elementary School (API 916 in 2010)
Castillero Middle School (API 806 in 2010)
Pioneer High School (API 823 in 2010)

Los Alamitos Elementary and Holy Spirit Elementary (Catholic) are both just a couple of blocks from Oaktree Park.  Additonally there are 2 preschools really close too:  Precious Preschool and Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Preschool.

For more information and links for schools, school districts, API scores and maps of boundaries lines for schools in the Almaden area of San Jose, please also read:

Schools, API Scores & Maps of School Boundaries in San Jose’s Almaden Valley

What are homes like in Oaktree Park?

Homes in Oaktree Park are single family dwellings – all detached houses (no townhouses or condominiums).  These are primarily ranch style or two story ranch style houses, built in the early 1970s  on lots of about 8000 to 9000 square feet, though a few are more than that.  Interior size runs between about 1600 square feet to about 3000 square feet (if added on). Prices may be in the mid 600s for a smaller home, needing work and a less desirable location (such as on a busy road or immediately adjacent to the high voltage power lines that run through the park) to perhaps a little over a million dollars for a beautifully updated or rebuilt larger home in an ideal location within the neighborhood.

Oaktree Park Neighborhood Home for Sale: 6064 Ostenberg Drive

This week I put a fabulously remodeled and expanded Oaktree Park neighborhood home on the market!  This exquisite house has an awesomely open floorplan with an amazing kitchen – a gourmet’s delight!  Have a look at the details! Open Sat/Sun, April 21-22, 2012 1-4pm. (more…)

Please stop by a Sereno Group office in Los Gatos, Los Altos or Santa Cruz to take part in a FREE e-waste, e-recycling
collection event on   Sunday April 22    9:30AM- 3:30- PM.

Metech Recycling has an incredible 95% success rate with getting these items securely recycled for manufacture!

Items accepted:
Monitors/TVs
Computers/Laptops
Cell phones/Telecom Equipment
Wire/Cable/PC Boards/Scrap Metal
Video tapes
Mice/Keyboards
Printers/Fax/Copy Machines
Stereo Equipment, Speakers
DVD/CD/MP3 Players
Microwave Ovens

Please, No Household Appliances:
Vacuum Cleaners, Toasters, Ovens, Etc.
Also no lights of any kind, no batteries

Where to go to drop off the approved items?

Los Gatos/Saratoga
214 Los Gatos-Saratoga Rd.
Los Gatos 408-335-1400

Los Altos/Palo Alto
369 S. San Antonio Rd.
Los Altos 650-947-2900

Santa Cruz
2407 Porter St. #150
Soquel 831-460-1100

Service Provided by
GreenMouse, Inc. a CA State Approved Col lector , CEW ID# 103153
442 Reynolds Ci rcle, San Jose, CA 95112
(408) 464-9999
www.greenmouse.com