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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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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Saratoga is a highly desireable place in which to live, a great retreat from the hustle and bustle of Silicon Valley.  Nestled into the Santa Cruz Mountains, it is just a few miles to the north of Los Gatos. Its an upscale town noted for great schools, low crime, scenic beauty, fabulous shops and restaurants, and stunning estates. Like most of the valley, this area was largely orchards and also some vineyards & wineries 50 or 70 years ago. In fact, the largest prune orchard in the world was once Hume Ranch, which had 680 acres of prune trees!

Exceptional entertainment is abundant in Saratoga. Take in concerts at The Mountain Winery (formerly called Paul Masson Mountain Winery) and at Villa Montalvo, two lovely outdoor venues for music, or go wine tasting or horseback riding at Cooper-Garrod off Pierce Road. The new Saratoga Library is a wonderful place to spend a rainy winter day too.

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Have you always dreamed of buying a home close to, or in, the western foothills in Santa Clara County, such as Almaden, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Saratoga? Some of the prettiest parts of Silicon Valley are snuggled into the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains. With views of downtown San Jose and the southern San Francisco Bay Area on one side, and rolling, grassy and redwood & oak filled hills on the other, its certainly scenic. Additionally, these areas all tend to have very low crime and good schools.

As a saavy foothill-area buyer, you will want to understand some of the unique issues that this geography may present. The most important of these may well be the issue of water control and drainage.

The Santa Clara Valley, and most of the neighboring Silicon Valley areas, is composed of mostly clay soil. This is an extremely strong substance - so much so that settlers used it, mixed only with a little straw and water, to form adobe bricks for building.  

The caveat with clay soil is that when it becomes wet, it expands, and when dry, it contracts. In fact, we call this condition 'expansive. The amazing thing is that the clay is more powerful than concrete. And that is the problem for houses and other buildings if the ground is expanding, contracting, or alternating between the two.

What can a homeowner do?  Its imperative to try to control the amount of water near (or under) the home as much as possible.  

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