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It remains a buyer's market in Los Gatos, but not as deep a buyer's market as in many other parts of Silicon Valley.
Below please find links to reports on the local Los Gatos housing market, broken down by zip code and housing type, current as of April 28, 2008. One of the most helpful aspects of the Altos reports is that it breaks the activity down by market quartiles, so that the activity in entry level homes, for instance, is differentiated from the luxury home market. Have a look:
Los Gatos Single Family Homes in 95030
Los Gatos Single Family Homes in 95032
Los Gatos Condos and Townhomes in 95030
Los Gatos Condos and Townhomes in 95032
These are care of Altos Research, which uses list prices (rather than sales prices). In a week or so we'll have the data on solds in Los Gatos from April, care of another subscription I have, the Real Estate Report. Please check back soon to get that information.
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How's the real estate market in Silicon Valley? One way of knowing is to keep a pulse on the number of short sale listings.
Los Gatos, Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Cupertino, and Los Altos all continue to feature very few short sale listings, and these markets remain stronger. They are still "buyer's markets", as is all of Siicon Valley, but prices are rising even as the number of sales is low.
In Silicon Valley's entry level real estate market, though, such as Blossom Valley, east San Jose, south county and south San Jose, is another story. There, it is a deep buyer's market. Prices are dropping. Blossom Valley's home values have been plummeting in recent months.
Where there are a lot of short sales, values decline. Where there aren't many short sales, prices appear to be holding or rising.
But the good news is this for all of Santa Clara County: overall, it does not appear that there is a sharp increase in the number of short sales for now. Have a look at this week's snapshot of Silicon Valley short sales and see. It is fairly flat overall. Perhaps the worst of it is behind us?
| Active Listings of Short Sale Single Family Homes, Condos, Townhouses |
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3/26/08 |
4/8/08 |
4/15/08 |
4/22/08 |
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| Los Gatos |
5 |
8 |
9 |
9 |
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| Monte Sereno |
1 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
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| Saratoga |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
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| Los Gatos Mtns |
3 |
2 |
3 |
2 |
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| Cambrian Park |
59 |
73 |
53 |
54 |
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| Santa Clara |
56 |
68 |
59 |
60 |
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| Campbell |
13 |
23 |
28 |
19 |
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| Cupertino |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
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| Los Altos |
0 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
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| Sunnyvale |
50 |
69 |
54 |
59 |
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| Blossom Valley |
196 |
251 |
200 |
202 |
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| San Jose (all) |
1534 |
1882 |
1667 |
1674 |
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Why do short sales matter so much? In a nutshell, "Silicon Valley short sales" are a precursor of real estate price drops. That is, where you find a lot of short sales, you will see "downward pressure" on pricing. Where you see few or no short sales, you will not find this same pressure.
Most short sales do NOT sell before going to foreclosure. There's a lot of hype about buying your first home in San Jose as a short sale to save money, but there's no savings if you wait three months and the lender never approves the deal. (Or just as bad, the lender waits so long to say yes that the home is no longer worth what you offered on it.)
Below please find a list of homes being marketed as short sales in Silicon Valley.
What trends do YOU see?
| Active Listings of Short Sale Single Family Homes, Condos, Townhouses |
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3/26/2008 |
4/8/2008 |
4/15/2008 |
|
|
|
| Los Gatos |
5 |
8 |
9 |
|
|
|
| Monte Sereno |
1 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
| Saratoga |
0 |
0 |
1 |
|
|
|
| Los Gatos Mtns |
3 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
|
| Cambrian Park |
59 |
73 |
53 |
|
|
|
| Santa Clara |
56 |
68 |
59 |
|
|
|
| Campbell |
13 |
23 |
28 |
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|
| Cupertino |
1 |
3 |
2 |
|
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|
| Los Altos |
0 |
1 |
1 |
|
|
|
| Sunnyvale |
50 |
69 |
54 |
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|
| Blossom Valley |
196 |
251 |
200 |
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| San Jose (all) |
1534 |
1882 |
1667 |
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 Is there a "best time" to buy or sell a home in Los Gatos, Saratoga, or San Jose? That's a question I get a lot. The answer is not so clear as many people would like.
Often we have some seasonally predictable patterns. Let's look at them.
Winter: inventory tends to be very low in winter (from late November until somewhere between New Year's, the Superbowl, and Valentine's Day). Each year it's slightly different, but in that "dead of winter" (as much as we have it here in The Valley of Heart's Delight) is usually the time with the lowest number of sales, the best prices for buyers, the most "absorption" for sellers, the best interest rates, but the LEAST inventory to choose from. So you may get a good price as a buyer, but may not have much to choose from. Sellers may have the best odds of selling a home during this time because there are so few homes to choose from, and some buyers are anxious to close during the calendar year for tax or other reasons.
Spring: What's best for sellers? Most years (but not all) that "best window" is from February through April. On a good year, it may continue into May. Some years, that "best window" for sellers is just a couple of weeks in March. Other years, it moves around and could be earlier, later, longer or shorter. Or just not happen at all. For buyers, spring brings a new influx of inventory and often decent rates. As more buyers come on the market, interest rates tend to creep up most years (a supply and demand issue).
 Summer: Somewhere around June, though, the tide begins to turn and by mid to late summer, sales have slowed considerably and sometimes prices even drop by about August. It varies from year to year. This can be a great time for buyers - lots of inventory to choose from, Interest rates may not be their cheapest, though.
Fall: Many years, there is a second rally (besides the one that happens near March) with a mini flurry of activity between Labor Day and Halloween. That can often be an excellent time to sell or to buy (more inventory than August or November/December).
There are pros and cons to each time on the market for both buyers and sellers. Depending on your home, any time can work. Traditionally, spring is viewed as best for both because there is a good supply of inventory but it doesn't linger too long. So in some ways, spring is the most balanced market. Any time of year CAN work, though. So do not tie your buying decision soley to something like the school year, the interest rates, or the holidays. Call me if you'd like to discuss your individual situation.
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 Please have a look at my latest market update for the town of Los Gatos, broken down by zip, for this week. (Data from Altos Research, a subscription service I have. Disclaimer: they use list prices for their reports.) The following links are to pdf files for these reports.
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(Updated Entry as of 3/27 the original links seemed to expire soon, so I'm using another method to bring you this information)
Have you ever wondered what it might cost to buy a parcel of land, maybe a view lot, and build your own home?
Any idea what it costs to purchase raw land in the Town of Los Gatos? Are you curious?
Right now, there are 23 parcels for sale in Los Gatos. I've assembled the list for you to view on another site of mine. If you're curious, have a look. You may not be surprised at the most expensive prices, but you may be surprised at the least expensive ones!
The links above go to this URL:
http://www.popehandy.com/organizer/psr_list.cfm?k=I0&i=KCNL51LV43VML111
If you're prompted for an email and password, use my email, Mary (at) PopeHandy.com and the PW is Land.
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Live in Los Gatos:
A blog about Los Gatos real estate, homes, houses, condos, townhomes, housing market, neightborhoods, history, events, businesses, parks, schools, photos, issues, and lifestyle.
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