For the most current Los Gatos Real Estate Market commentary, please click on the "Category" link for Homes & Housing Market. Market updates occur frequently, usually weekly.
Condominiums and Townhomes in Los Gatos
The landscape for Los Gatos condos and townhouses is varied and truly runs the gamut from simple shelter close to freeway walls and train tracks to newer or fully remodeled luxury homes with gorgeous views of Lake Vasona, the coastal mountains or Silicon Valley. Prices range from possibly as low as $250,000 to well over $1,000,000. At this writing, one townhome is being offered for approximately $1.3 million.
Some of these condominiums and townhomes are "in the schools", meaning in the Los Gatos Union School District. Others are in Moreland Schools (Rinconada Hills, Los Gatos Woods) or Union Schools (Los Gatos Village). Schools always factor heavily in home valuations.
The issue of location makes a huge difference in pricing and marketability. Whenever there's a "walk to town" or "walk to schools" type location (whether you bike, take a car or go on foot - the idea is close proximity), it adds great value that will matter to consumers no matter what the market. Likewise, some communities are built up directly against undesireable things like freeways, high voltage lines, and train tracks, and those will always be an issue, but even more so in a buyers' market.
If you are looking to purchase a townhome or condominium in Los Gatos, here are a few of the communities you might consider in the 95030 and 95032 zip codes:
Rancho de Los Gatos - Overlook Road area (close to downtown)
Rinconada Hills - off Pollard near Quito (gated)
Espana Oaks - off Los Gatos Almaden near Los Gatos Blvd
Los Gatos Village - off Los Gatos Almaden Road & Camino del Cerro
Charter Oaks - off Lark, near Los Gatos Creek Trail
Courtside - off Winchester
Courtstyle - off Winchester
Los Gatos Woods - off Pollard
Los Gatos Estates - off Pollard
Pueblo de Los Gatos - seniors community, Alberto Way area off Hwy 9 near 17
Vasona Terrace - off Winchester
There are many smaller communities as well, including some a very short distance to schools (such as along Roberts Road).
How Is the Condo and Townhouse Market in Los Gatos Now?
The real estate market in Los Gatos has been volatile for condominiums and townhouses in 2008 - a true rollar coaster from month to month. Let's have a look at the list price to sales price ratio and also the absorption rate. The numbers are from MLSListings.com. Graphs by yours truly, Mary Pope-Handy.
As you can see, it's been a rollar coaster of a ride on what buyers and sellers are experiencing in terms of how close to list price these homes are selling. With a 9% range in just 2 months, it's hard for anyone to know what to expect. Please note that most sales (escrow timeframes) are 30 days long, so the very high list price to sales price ratio shown in June reflects a "hot market" in May. With the following month so much different, many sellers were caught completely offguard.
This chart is almost an inversion of the first one. When the absorption rate is low, the list price to sales price ratio is higher - and vice versa. It gives a pretty clear idea that most months have favored the buyers more than the sellers - but not all! March was a particularly good month for sellers, with a small 3.86 months of inventory and a list price to sales price ratio of 101.58% (again, most of these contracts were signed in February, not March, as most are 30 day escrows). Conversely, buyers did very well in May closings, with a 95.43 list price to sales price ratio (and the sellers experienced a dismal 17 months of inventory). April was a good month for buyers to buy and a hard month for sellers to sell.
The weird thing is the lack of a strong pattern in all of this. Often there are trends that clearly move one way or the other, or ride back and forth a few months in one direction and then a few in another. But this constant up and down makes it very difficult for anyone to understand the market generally. That said, MOST of the months in 2008 have an absorption rate of over 6 months, which is the number by which the National Association of Realtors declares a swing from buyers to sellers markets. With that in mind, despite the volatility, we could say that in every month but one so far in 2008, it's been a buyers market and the only issue in question is the matter of degree.
Advice for Buyers and Sellers of Condos and Townhomes in Los Gatos
Buyers, this is an excellent time to buy a condo or townhome in Los Gatos. Sellers, if you want or need to sell, it is important to realize that most condominiums and townhouses in Los Gatos are NOT SELLING and that the odds are very much against your being able to sell. How can you get your home to be the one that buyers pick? It has to be in the best condition and the best price out there. Be the "shiny penny" that they cannot resist. If it's not the best deal on the market, it will get passed by.
Please call or email me for a confidential meeting to discuss your real estate wants and needs.
Interested in other Silicon Valley areas? Please also see my Valley of Hearts Delight blog, which covers primarily the "West Valley" communities of Saratoga, Monte Sereno, Los Gatos, Campbell and San Jose's nearby areas of Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park and Willow Glen.
 
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