Cambrian Park, or more broadly, Cambrian, is a west San Jose neighborhood or district and is one of the more affordable, high-value areas in Silicon Valley. The schools are good, the crime is low, and the commute is not too bad. For people relocating to Santa Clara County, this is a place to know about since quality education and affordability are often high priorities!

What’s the compromise for the more reasonable prices of homes for sale? Well, Cambrian doesn’t have an interesting, upscale downtown area like Campbell, Los Gatos, Saratoga, or Willow Glen.

But it does have tons of shopping & restaurants and even a Farmer’s Market. It also enjoys a top notch hospital (Good Samaritan) and plenty of parks as well as a fantastic rec center with a large park adjacent to it, the Camden Community Center, which has tons of programs (including an after school program for youth), classes, and a fabulous pool.  (My family and I lived in Cambrian in the “Cambrian Gardens” neighborhood for 10 years and loved it – our kids made great use of the community center too.)

Altogether, there are about 75,000 to 80,000 residents in Cambrian, spread throughout the three zip codes of 95124, 95118 and a little tiny bit of 95008.

If there is a “central Cambrian Park”, it would have to be near the original Cambrian Park Shopping Center, which was the first actual mall in San Jose! That area is sometimes known as Cambrian Village.  People sometimes use the three names interchangeably: Cambrian, Cambrian Park, Cambrian Village.:

Where is Cambrian Park? Map of approximate Cambrian Boundaries:

View Cambrian Area of San Jose in a larger map

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San Jose’s Cambrian Park district is a west valley community which primarily consists of the 95124 zip code region and the 95118 zip area with a sliver of 95008 thrown in.  Cambrian was once a very broad area including part of what we now consider Campbell and Willow Glen.  The heart of it was “Cambrian Village”, which can be found at Camden and Union Avenues.

Want to buy a Cambrian house?  The 95118 area is a little more affordable than the 95124 – you tend to get a bit more house for your money and/or a little newer house for the budget. (Please also see Cambrian Park Houses for Sale in 95124.)

Real Estate in San Jose: Cambrian Park Houses for Sale & Listed on the MLS

Below please find houses for sale in Cambrian Park, San Jose, 95118. Feel free to browse, click through, scan the map and enjoy the photos of these listed properties. No registration required!

Showing properties 1 - 5 of 21. See more 95118 zip code real estate.
(all data current as of 5/23/2012)

1. $670,000 : 4241 Ranwick Ct, San Jose
   
   4 beds, 3 full baths

   Home size: 2,199 sq ft

   Lot size: 5,000 sqft
   
2. $785,000 : 3339 Beacon Ln, San Jose
   
   3 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 1,952 sq ft

   Lot size: 6,784 sqft
   
3. $998,000 : 5715 Mireille Dr, San Jose
   
   4 beds, 2 full, 1 part baths

   Home size: 2,000 sq ft

   Lot size: 6,566 sqft
   
4. $649,000 : 1373 Adobe Ct, San Jose
   
   4 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,966 sq ft

   Lot size: 8,800 sqft
   
5. $499,500 : 5576 Dwight Av, San Jose
   
   3 beds, 2 full baths

   Home size: 1,401 sq ft

   Lot size: 6,000 sqft
   

Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.

If you are a first time home buyer and you’ve zeroed in on the Cambrian or Cambrian Park area of San Jose as where you’d like to live, what should you expect?  Assuming that you are purchasing a house (not a condo or townhome), there are some basics you’ll want to know.

Cambrian & Cambrian Park and Zip Codes

First, it’s helpful to understand that most of Cambrian is in the 95124 area, which in general is a little older & more expensive than 95118.  You may be wondering if that’s good or bad.  It’s mixed.  In general, for the same money you’ll get a little more home in 95118 (a larger house, more square footage) but because of the age, you’re also more likely to have the “popcorn ceilings” which were more in style in the early 1970s.   Most of 95118 is also in the San Jose Unified School District, as opposed to most of 95124′s Union School District or Cambrian School District.  All are good but do your research: you may prefer one area over another.  Some of it may depend upon which way you’re commuting, too. Overall,  95118 is closer to downtown San Jose (and Almaden Expressway) and 95124 is closer to 85 going north to destinations such as Cupertino and Sunnyvale and Mountain View.

Both 95118 and 95124 are home to some really upscale neighborhoods that don’t fit the cookie cutter description that follows for the generic sold numbers.  The 95124 area includes both the beautiful “Vista Loop” area which enjoys views and feels like either Los Gatos or Almaden as well as the Alta Vista and original Cambrian Village areas which are bigger homes or lots or both.  The 95118 area offers the Almaden Vineyard neighborhood with beautiful newer homes built around a 5 acre, historic park (and adjacent to the fabulous new San Jose Vineland Library.)  Both areas have some of the same builders too, such as Garcia and Ponderosa, so in some cases you can find the same house but for a different price due to the exact location within Cambrian.

Recent Solds and Numbers by Zip Code

Just now I ran the solds over the last 3 months for “Area 14″ (our MLS designated area for Cambrian) by zip code 95124 and by 95118. (There is a very tiny sliver of 95008 but too small to be helpful for our purposes.)  Here’s a quick look at what you can get for your money in Cambrian as of the summer of 2010:

95124 – 81 homes sold/closed, 68 “regular sales”, 8 short sales, 5 bank owned homes (total “distressed sales” accounted for 16% of the closed escrows).  Average sales price was about $660,000 (av list price appx $655,000), average home size 1594 square feet and average lot size 6909 SF.  Average price per square foot $419.

95118 – 60 homes sold/closed, 45 “regular sales”, 10 short sales, 5 bank owned home sales (total “distressed sales” were 25% of the closed sales).  Average sales price was approximately $573,000 and average list price was about $572,000.  Average home size 1494 square feet and average lot size 6620 SF.  Average price per square foot $393.
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San Jose’s westside suburb of Cambrian Park appears to have “bottomed out” in February or March.  Home prices are rising there now, at least in many price points.   Cambrian consists of two zip codes, 95124 and 95118 (and a sliver of 95008) and two high school districts, Campbell Union High School District and San Jose Unified School District.

The “months of inventory” reflects how long the current inventory of homes for sale would take to be absorbed if sales continued at the same pace and no new homes came on the market. Six months is a balanced market more than six is a buyer’s market, and less than six is a seller’s market.

As you can see, it’s a seller’s market in Cambrian Park in both school districts!  (This may not be true for all homes in all prices and all conditions, but it is indicative of the overal market.)

With inventory selling really fast, it is not surprising that prices are rising.  Below please view the Altos Report (to which I have a subscription) for the last 6 months:

This is a little busy, but here’s the same data but broken down by price quartile:

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Cambrian Park is a very desireable part of San Jose and the greater Silicon Valley due to its great schools, low crime, proximity to Los Gatos and the general “west valley” area of Santa Clara County.  It’s more affordable than the tonier areas right up against the foothills (for the most part, Cambrian is in the flatlands, though one corder is in the hills snuggled between Los Gatos and Almaden Valley). 

This San Jose district is also a fairly good indicator of how the rest of the valley is doing, so even if you aren’t a resident of Cambrian Park or don’t want to own a home there, it’s helpful to keep a pulse on it.

A disclaimer: Cambrian Park has micro markets, just like everywhere else.  The “zone 14″ includes three school districts (Union, Cambrian, and San Jose), two zip codes and a fraction of another (95124, 951118 and a sliver of 95008) and the borders are messy with Willow Glen, Campbell and Los Gatos in places.  So this is an overview of the region and may not exactly reflect what’s been happening in your precise neighborhood.

Pricing is usually the single biggest question that homeowners have – they want to know if they have any equity: “what’s my home worth?”  In the Cambrian area of San Jose, prices have been declining for a couple or three years, but that phase seems to be over (the peak of the market was late 2006 to early 2007 and prices in Cambrian have now “rolled back” to about 2000-2002 levels in many areas, but some only to 2003 levels).  The low point seems to have been in January, with prices rising since then. Currently, the median sold price of single family homes in Cambrian is down 24% from two years ago (but it was even more 6 months ago). Of course, the dead of winter is usually the time with the least inventory but the best prices, so it’s possible that what we are seeing is only seasonal. We will get confirmation one way or the other soon because prices usually begin tapering in late summer. If prices continue to rise (which I suspect they will as I am seeing so many multiple offers), this will be an indicator that the Cambrian Park real estate market is indeed recovering.

Single family homes in Cambrian -

Condos and townhomes in Cambrian – the median sold price is down 45% over the last two years! The worst point was in February this year.

Supply and demand is what it’s all about – the low prices combined with great FHA backed financing and the $8000 first time homebuyer credit and fueling fence-sitting buyers to jump into the market in San Jose’s more affordable areas such as Blossom Valley and Cambrian Park. 

Below is the supply & demand chart for single family homes in Cambrian (zip codes 95124, 95118 and a tiny bit of 95008, which is primarily Campbell). The number of available homes (listed homes) is down 23% and the number of sold properties is down 20% from two years ago. The worst of it was 12 months ago, though. (Last June to this June: The number of for sale properties is down 37% and the number of sold properties is up 7%.)

Fewer homes are selling, but far fewer are listed, too.

Next, supply and demand for condos in the Cambrian Park area of San Jose:

The condo market is taking a beating because buyers are opting for more affordable houses rather than condominiums and townhomes.

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