How is the real estate market in the Willow Glen area of San Jose?  There are multiple ways of viewing it – via price point, school district, proximity to “downtown Willow Glen”, by numbers or percentages of distressed sales (sale type), and many more criteria.  Today we’ll look at the broad market numbers for the MLS “area 10″ (all of Willow Glen) and at times just the zip code for San Jose 95125, which covers the majority of the Willow Glen area.  This post will only cover houses or “single family homes”, not condominiums or townhomes.

I ran the months of inventory for homes in Willow Glen (our MLS area 10) by sale type.  Here’s what I found – most of the market appears to have about 4.95 months of inventory, with short sales being considerably longer.  (This may have had different results had I isolated certain school areas or price points – this is a “sweeping view” of the area only.) The National Association of Realtors says that less than 6 months is a sellers market, but for our area, this is fairly “cool” and most sellers would not find the market to be all that much in their favor. (Six months is supposed to be a balanced market.)

It is unusual for there to be so little variation in the MOI, so I double checked but this appears correct. Often bank owned homes or REOs fly off the market.  Odd that it’s not happening here, too.

Next, a selection of statistics and trends in the numbers from my REReport for Willow Glen (click on link for more info) – prices here reflect sold prices (median and average), not list prices:

Prices appear down from the prior month but up from a year ago.  That’s good news for Willow Glen home owners, who hope that the worst is now behind us.  Days on market are better than the previous month (but worse than a year ago) and inventory is up from last month but almost the same – just a little less – than a year ago.  It’s a mixed bag. (more…)

If you’ve been trying to sell your home in Los Gatos, Saratoga, Almaden Valley, Cambrian, or anywhere in the greater San Jose area but haven’t received an offer yet, don’t dispair!

With our mild winters, you really can sell real estate any time of year. 

Not only that, but in December a lot of folks DO pull their property off the market, and the result is a tightening of inventory across Silicon Valley from the months immediately prior. The ratio between listed and sale pending homes improves dramatically. (The “absorption rate” tends to improve with fewer houses, condos and townhouses listed on the MLS.)

But you’re thinking: it’s a hassle. It’s the holidays. Is this any time to sell Silicon Valley real estate?

And you’re right. So do it differently.
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Whether you are looking to buy a condo, townhome, patio home, or single family home in Silicon Valley, it’s imperative that you revisit the neighborhood multiple times before deciding to buy (or to complete the purchase). This is an important part of your “due diligance” as a home buyer.

Why revisit so many times? Because certain key things may differ from hour to hour or workday to weekend day:

• - noise levels
• - the number of parked cars on the street (few is good, many suggests overcrowding)
• - neighborhood activity (good or bad: people strolling, walking dogs is a good sign – too many yard sales or other activity may not be a plus)

If you visit on a weekday morning or afternoon, the street could be relatively free of cars and other vehicles, but it might be entirely different on a Friday night or Saturday afternoon.

Conversely, if the neighborhood appears consistently appealing, quiet, well kept, and not overcrowded or loud, that’s something to appreciate as you factor in which home to buy. You can usually remodel your own home, but it’s very difficult to do a makeover on the street where you live – so investigate throroughly before you buy, whether it’s in San Jose, Campbell, Saratoga, or Los Gatos. You will be more sure of your decision and happier with the results if you do your neighborhood homework upfront.