Where can you find gated communities in San Jose or Silicon Valley?  There aren’t many of them! (It is a myth, however, that the Silver Creek Valley Country Club is the only one in Silicon Valley. That’s just not true.)  There are fewer than a dozen, though, and in this post I’ll provide some basic info on each and links to the home owner association for each so you can learn more if you so desire.

Most of these enclaves include neighborhood pools.  Some also boast golf courses, spas and restaurants.

In the Evergreen area of San Jose (the east foothills), there are two gated residential neighborhoods:  The Villages, which is a retirement community for seniors (and has age restrictions) and the Silver Creek Valley Country Club, which is the largest and best known gated community in Santa Clara County.  A large complex and elegantly appointed, the Silver Creek Valley Country Club is also the most expensive of the gated communities.

In San Jose’s Almaden Valley, there’s another gated community called The Villas of Almaden.  The complex is lovely with views and open space as well as recreational amenities. Building types include townhouses as well as houses but all are actually held in condominium ownership, so to find these San Jose homes for sale one must look under the condo and townhome category. (Lots of houses with decks, but not fenced yards! If you or your agent search under the regular classification for houses, you will miss these entirely!)

Rinconada Hills (usually called “La Rinconada” by locals) is another gated community in Los Gatos along the Campbell and Saratoga borders.  Here you’ll find townhouses as well as single family homes (houses), multiple pools, tennis courts, an RV park for residents and some scenic places to enjoy a hike and nature.  Adjacent to it is the Arroyo Rinconada community, which until very recently had a working gate.  Apparently the residents no longer felt it was necessary so the gate does not function now (though it’s still present).

In Morgan Hill, a gated community of 244 homes is planned, according to the Morgan Hill Times article from last November.

Gilroy offers a couple of choices:  the Village Green, for seniors, and also Eagle Ridge, an elegant community situated next to a golf course.

And that is really the extent of gated communities where you can purchase a house in Silicon Valley!

There are a few gated all-townhouse or all-condo complexes, of course, such as the upscale Rancho Deep Cliff community in Cupertino.  There are a few small pockets with 3 or 4 houses which lie behind a gate.  But in terms of real communities with a number of homes and housing types, the list above covers all of them to the best of my knowledge.  If I’ve missed any, please let me know and I’ll include them!

The other day I was previewing for clients all over east and south San Jose: Berryessa, Alum Rock, Evergreen, Santa Teresa and Blossom Valley. It was one of the hundred degree days and I was glad my car has a strong air conditioner. I stumbled upon Canyon Park near Silver Creek as I was obeying my car’s navigation system, and stopped long enough to take a few photos since the views were just perfect. Hope you enjoy seeing them.

Canyon Park is located across from the intersection of Larkspur Canyon Drive and Stoney Creek Place (off San Felipe) in San Jose’s 95109 zip code (near Silver Creek).

Like what you see? Read more about Canyon Park on Yelp & see reviewer’s comments.

Photos, by the way, are not retouched. They were taken with my new Blackberry Tour (as you can see, I have not yet figured out how to focus the pictures!) – these were my first attempt at using the camera function.

We may be in a recession with 11% local unemployment, but affordable homes are getting scooped up with multiple offers and in many areas, inventory is shrinking.

Today we’ll look at five areas of San Jose which offer at least some, if not mostly, entry level housing: Blossom Valley, Cambrian Park, Evergreen, Santa Teresa and South San Jose.

Evergreen does have some high-end housing in Silver Creek and elsewhere, but it also provides some very affordable homes for first time home buyers.  Cambrian Park is mostly middle class but it, too, has some McMansions (original Cambrian Park tract with large lots and very old homes that are not infrequently bulldozed) and some homes with views (Vista Loop area, bordering Los Gatos and Almaden Valley).  Blossom Valley has some beautiful properties and many close to thecenics Santa Teresa Foothills.  Overall, though, these homes represent affordable or mid-range houses for sale in Silicon Valley.  When we look at them as a group, it gives a strong sense of what the market is doing generally.

The months of inventory reflect how long it would take the current inventory to be absorbed (or sold off) if no new inventory came on the market and sales continued at the current pace.  Six months is a balanced market.  Fewer represents a seller’s market and more reflects a buyer’s market.  As you can see, April shows a push in all five districts of San Jose into seller’s territory:

Why the change from buyer’s market to seller’s market?  South San Jose and Blossom Valley have been flooded with distressed property sales (though not as much as Alum Rock, which was almost exclusively short sales and bank owned real estate sales the first quarter of 2009), pushing prices down substantially and making home ownership affordable for many who were otherwise priced out of the market a few years ago.   Bargain-hunters have been scooping up these homes.  Prices are stable – approximately flat – so there’s not as much fear for further declines in pricing right now.

To keep it from being too busy, I rounded the numbers to the closest whole number.  Using exact numbers, the averages of these five areas by month is as follows:

Right now, buyers in many areas and price points looking for a home to purchase in Silicon Valley are frustrated with the lack of inventory (or appropriately priced inventory), so this graph will not be a suprise to many of them.

Sellers who are unable to get traffic or offers on their homes may find this baffling.  If the market is so “hot”, then why isn’t my home selling? If you are experiencing this market rejection, it’s not that your home isn’t sellable.  Most likely, it means that your price and condition are not realistic for today’s market – if your home is a normal (not short) sale.  Short sales are trickier as some agents refuse to show them since they are harder to close.

Some buyers are holding off, waiting for the next anticipated flood of short sales and bank owned properties.  How many will there be? We don’t know. It might change the market conditions entirely. Or it could be as significant as the local threat of pandemic from the swine flu.

Things have been rough for first time home buyers in Silicon Valley. Lenders have been tightening requirements for months, demanding larger down payments and more perfect credit than at any time in the last 10 years.  This is true all across Santa Clara County, from Evergreen to Saratoga to Cambrian Park and South San Jose. Money is tight.

For those hoping to get into a single family home for under $500,000, which is possible in some parts of San Jose right now, there’s real improvement in affordability over the prices we saw a year ago. But that’s only true if you can buy! Don’t be discouraged – if you want to buy, now’s the time to begin planning.

What do you need to do to be able to take advantage of the soft Silicon Valley real estate prices?

• Cash is king, especially now – so save for that down payment
• If necessary, consider buying your first home with your parents’ help. They can put down some of the downpayment and be on title with you and you can pay them back over time. Of course, consult a real estate attorney to set this up!
• Check into the first time homebuyer programs available in your city or town
• Meet with a good lender (who comes to you by referral) to work out a plan to buy, clean up any credit issues, and investigate any other opportunities for assistance (such as programs for teachers, firefighters, police officers, and other city or county employees)

Call or email me if you’d like to talk about the possibilities of buying a home in today’s Silicon Valley real estate market!