Silicon Valley Real Estate

Do you want or need to sell your Silicon Valley home this year? If so, you ought to take the staging of your home very seriously. Often homeowners hire a Realtor (or other real estate licensee), ask for their advice on preparing the house and yard for sale, and then proceed to disregard all or most of the guidance given.

Why do would sellers hire an agent and then not take the professional advice offered?  Especially in THIS market? The result is frustrating for both the homeowner (who will not realize the best possible price) and for the agent (who cannot control the condition, but who is hampered in selling the home because of it).

To be candid, the odds are that you will not be able to sell your home in San Jose, Los Gatos, or Saratoga this year. Countywide, most homes are NOT selling. Actually, let's look at the numbers for just a moment - you will see that it's fairly sobering.

In the Cambrian Park area of San Jose (zip codes 95124, 95118 and a little of 95008), there are 241 single family homes and condos or townhomes for sale (the "active listings"). In that same district, just 109 are pending sales. This refects about a 45% chance of selling.

In Almaden Valley, an upscale collection of neighborhoods comprising the 95120 zip code area of San Jose, it's much worse. There are 121 houses and townhouses or condominiums for sale, and a mere 34 which are under contract to sell. The odds here are 28% that you'll sell.

For Los Gatos (95032 and 95030), it's 203 available vs 50 pending. Down to 24% opportunity to sell.

Saratoga (95070) has 152 active listings and just 33 pendings, or a 21.7% sales success.

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San Jose's upscale suburb, Almaden Valley, features gorgeous hillside views, great schools, low crime, and consistently nice neighborhoods.  Home prices range from a little higher than average to very expensive.  How is the real estate market faring in posh Almaden Valley?

Here's a snapshot view of list prices over the last year in Almaden of both single family houses and condos or townhomes.

It is curious to note that condo prices seemed to have an uptick while single family homes had a downtick around March first of this year. Condo and townhouse prices in Almaden appear to be slipping overall since then, while home prices have risen generally, though slipped again a little since July 1st.

Next let's have a look at asking prices for single family homes, or houses (as opposed to condominiums or townhomes).  Below, find the data broken down by quartiles.

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Saratoga, California, is a delightful part of Silicon Valley that boasts low crime, high scores in schools, and strong property values. Today we'll have a look at the list prices of homes to see what's happening with the various real estate markets there.  How are things faring amid the mortgage meltdown which is impacting most of Silicon Valley?

Here's a graph of the combined single family home and condominum/townhouse pricing for Saratoga CA real estate - it will give you an overview of the many price points and types of homes combined.

At first glance, it looks like condos and townhomes in Saratoga are falling in value while single family homes are rising in value. Is that the case?

Of course, "the market" in Saratoga or anywhere else in Silicon Valley is dependent upon many things, such as exact location, views, school districts, price point - to name a few. It may or may not be as simple as this graph implies. So let's take a closer look.

The following image shows pricing of active listings in Saratoga real estate among single family homes, broken down by quartiles. As you will note, the highest priced homes have shown the most volatility in this market. March and April seem to have been a low point for pricing.

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Do you like to keep a pulse on the Silicon Valley real estate market? If the west valley communities interest you especially, please sign up to automatically receive (at no cost) a report by zip code for the communities of Los Gatos/Monte Sereno, Saratoga, Campbell, and parts of San Jose close to them: Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park, and Willow Glen.

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