The Los Gatos real estate market varies by zip code, school district, neighborhood and price point.

The schools are a huge factor in sales prices and overall desireability, even if the buyers want to have their kids attend private schools. So let's consider that imact too. The 95030 zip code is entirely in the Los Gatos School District, but the 95032 zip code is partly "in the schools" and partly in the Campbell Union High School District. The 95033 zip code reflects the Los Gatos Mountain areas (such as Redwood Estates, Chemeketa Park, etc.), which are not actually part of the town but have a Los Gatos mailing address. The schools in the mountains are quite good and they feed into Los Gatos High School.

I. Overview:  Today we'll first have a broad overview of the major real estate indicators across 95030, 95032, and 95033, then focus in on pricing by zip code in particular.

1.) Here's a snapshot of how the Los Gatos real estate market is faring by zip code and major indicators. First, let's look at the median list price of single family homes in these zip codes:

The median list price is clearly declining across all zip codes.

2.) And here's the inventory situation by zip code in Los Gatos, which as you can see hit a peak a month or two ago but has been declining recently:

3.) Finally, here is a view of the days on market in the same three parts of Los Gatos:

II. Pricing Information by zip code and quartile.

1.) The days on market are rising across all zip codes and the ratio appears fairly similar from one to the next.

2.) Next, the same data for 95032:

3.) And lastly the same information for the mountain areas of 95033:

Generally speaking

-the inventory is not as high as a few months ago and appears to be enjoying a downward trend.

-days on the market are climbing overall

-median list price has been falling - in some areas and price points, it's not terribly dire, but in others the situation is more extreme.

Overall, the market continues to deteriorate for sellers and improve for buyers. Any particular home may or may not fit neatly into the patterns shared above, so please contact me for more information on your home or your dream home!

The Los Gatos real estate market has had a difficult year in 2008. Are things improving now, levelling off, or worsening?  What Los Gatos homeowners care about most is value: what's my home worth now? Today we will look at what list prices are doing among Los Gatos proerties for sale: both single family homes (houses) and condominums and townhomes in both the 95030 and 95032 zip codes.

The data, care of Altos Research, pretty much speaks for itself. The situation varies from one area to the next and one price point to the next. For more detailed information than is presented here, please contact me directly.

I. Broad Overview of Los Gatos homes for sale

 First let's see an overview of list prices for single family homes in Los Gatos by zip code (all price quartiles combined).

 Next, same type of data but for Los Gatos condominiums and townhomes for sale (both zip codes, median list price).

II. Closer look at houses for sale in Los Gatos

 Next we'll look more closely at single family homes by zip code and by price point or quartile.

Los Gatos houses in the 95030 zip code area by quartile:

Los Gatos houses in the 95032 zip code area by quartile:

III. Condominiums and Townhomes for Sale in Los Gatos

Next the list pricing for condos in 95030 by quartile

And finally, list prices of condos and townhouses for sale in the 95032 area by quartile

In summary, it looks as though condo prices have done fairly well overall. In 95030, they are up year over year across the board, and in 95032 they two top quartiles are up. The entry level condos in 95032 appear to have lost value year over year. The reason may be that buyers in these price points are purchasing single family homes outside of Los Gatos instead.

Among houses, the slippage in pricing is fairly slight in both zip codes among the three lower quartiles, but the market difficulties are much more pronounced among the most expensive homes in both of the Los Gatos areas. The Los Gatos luxury market has taken more of a beating than more midrange homes this year? Why is that? There are a number of possibilities, but the bottom line is that if you are a luxury home buyer looking in the west side of Silicon Valley, this may be a great opportunity for you! 

Please call or email me if you'd like more information on Los Gatos real estate market conditions.

Most mornings, the alarm goes off in our Los Gatos home at 6:30am. I find my way to the coffee pot, flip it on, and sit down at my desk to see what emails may have come in overnight. My home office looks out to a small front courtyard; ours is a pseudo-Spanish style home and the view to the street goes through a small covered archway that connects one part of the U-shaped house with another.

As I sipped on my coffee and waited for the email to load today, a shadowy four-legged creature meandered across the archway roof. It was in siloutte - all shadows as the sun hadn't risen high enough to illuminate it. A cat? A squirrel? A possum? It sported a long snout and a fairly thick tail. Seemed to be a racoon. While I was still processing the possibilities, a second animal waddled right behind.

They were so cute!

I squealed with delight at these cartoonish animals so close. Jim and I hustled outside to catch a better view of them. The dog treated this like a four-alarm fire and raced around the house barking, and even when we returned inside and told her to hush, she wouldn't abandon her duty of announcing a huge danger. The neighbors must have wondered.

After about 10 minutes and the return of calm, I got a second viewing as one of them retraced its steps along the crest of the arch in better light and a second one snuggled under the overhang between the archway and the bedroom wing. It was so funny to look up and see the racoon eyes studying me from under the eaves!

In truth, they're adorable as visitors but we wouldn't want them to stay. I'm not sure how they got there, or what they expected to find on my roof. Perhaps a neighbor leaves pet food outside that attracts them? Or maybe they like one of our fruit trees? I don't know. We have seen possum in the peach tree, squirrels everywhere and sometimes a rat tries to take up residence with us. Never before racoons, though. I hope they nest somewhere else in Belwood...and just come back to visit once in awhile.

Today the typically pleasant, normal September weather returned to Los Gatos after several gloomy and unseasonably cold days took hold of us. It was too nice to stay indoors so in the late afternoon, I grabbed the leash and asked our aging black lab, Bella, if she wanted to go for a walk.

She limps now, but moves fast at the sound of food or the promise of a walk. We were out the door quickly.

After a stroll down Bacigalupi Drive, greeting neighbors and other dog walkers and pedestrians, we returned home to a really beautiful site. The moon was just about full and it was almost exactly between two palm trees straight ahead of me.

Getting Bella inside, I grabbed my Canon Power Shot out of my car and brought it outside, only to find the rechargeable batteries had died.

Got new ones off the charger and snapped a few shots. They didn't look good in the tiny little window of the camera and I was afraid that the impact would be lost. I took about a half dozen shots and then the batteries died again. Grrr. But I got what I needed.

It wasn't until I uploaded the pics to my computer that I could see if this would work or not. I think it does come across - though still not as breathtaking as when I saw it "live" today.

Here I think the moon looks so much like a ping pong ball suspended between two palmy paddles.

Another beautiful evening here in Los Gatos.

In contrast to much of Silicon Valley, the Los Gatos market is continuing to experience appreciation and is a fairly "balanced" market overall.

I. Single Family Homes

Compared to last year, August's closed sales of single family homes were smaller in number (off 6.5%) but up in price (median up 35.9%, average up 23.7%). Inventory is far lower than last year too - listings were down 26.4% from last year. The lower inventory is helping to keep this market balanced, as opposed to the buyers' market it is elsewhere.

Compared to last month, August's closed sales of houses in Los Gatos were down 6.5%, listings were up 6.2%, and prices were up noticeably (4.8% for the median and 7.2% for the average).

II. Condos and Townhomes

The condo market is somewhat similar in The Cats, with the numbers of listings and sales falling, inventory shrinking, and prices rising.

Compared to last year, the closed sales were down by a whopping 66.7%, listings were down by 23.5%, and prices were up strongly (28.2% median, 15% average). Normally, sales do fall off in August, so we expect to see a month to-month drop, but to see a drop from one August to the next is very noteworthy.

Compared to last month, sales of townhomes and condominiums were down 69.2% and listings were up 18.2%. Prices skyrocked though, up 45.7% for the median and 30.1% for the average.

III. Give me the Cliff Notes Version

For both single family homes, townhouses and condos, this summer has been a whole lot better a time in which to sell than the year before. Inventory is down, prices are up. Sales are down tremendously, but fewer homeowners are trying to sell now than a year ago. If you could not sell your home last year, try again - things are much improved! Just make sure your price is realistic and the condition is top-notch.

Often the Los Gatos market follows a fairly predictable pattern for inventory, sales and appreciation: in January there are more buyers than sellers, and prices get pushed up. This inequality of supply and demand tends to remain (most years) through late spring or into summer as inventory rises.

Some years the balancing point is in May, others in July - it varies. By summer, though, usually there are more listings than buyers and prices quit rising. In the second half of the year, prices may be stable, they may drop slightly, or they may do some dropping in August and rising again between Labor Day and Halloween, when we get a second burst of folks who want to get in before the year ends. Often inventory shrinks in winter and again in late summer. In the first graph above, you can see that pattern roughly played out.

Where are we now? It is early September and if the market follows what is typical (which is what we are seeing now), we will have a very healthy market this month and next. For buyers, there's usually more selection as houses come on the market. For sellers, there's a renewed interest among buyers and well-priced, well-staged, and well-marketed real estate sells well. Now is a good time to both sell and to buy in Los Gatos.

If you would like more information on the market (both condos and single family homes in Los Gatos, Saratoga, San Jose and around Silicon Valley), please see my online Silicon Valley real estate market report. Or call me at 408 204-7673 for a private and confidential consultation.

Each week, I get inquiries from people who are thinking of buying a home here in Los Gatos or in Saratoga, San Jose or elsewhere in Silicon Valley. Some of them are fairly local, and some are potentially relocating here. Sometimes they want to "start the process" by having me show them homes. That's usually not the best way to proceed.

The trouble with starting by viewing homes is that such a buyer may or may not be looking in the right price range - potentially wasting the time of everyone involved (themselves, their agent, and the people who clean up and leave their home for an hour or two so they can see it). Open house viewing, of course, is another thing - it can be an easy way to zip in and out of houses with little inconvenience to anyone. It can provide a sense of neighborhoods and what homes are going for. But the home buyer could, of course, be looking at the wrong price range with this approach. Look too low, get discourged. Look too high, and when the price range is later reset to what is realistic, everything will look awful.

So what is the most efficient way to investigate the possibility of home buying?

For most people, it's best to start with the budget. How much do you want to spend? What will be comfortable for you and still help you to meet your needs? Often that's not the same thing as how much you can spend.

That said, "it all depends". It depends on how much cash down you have, what kind of loan you are comfortable with, qualify for or can accept.

There are a few simple rules of thumb that can be a starting point. Some folks say that you can afford to buy 3-4 times your annual income. So if you are making $50,000 per year and your spouse or home buying partner is making $75,000 per year, together you'd qualify (using this rough rule of thumb) for $375,000 to $500,000. That won't buy you much in Silicon Valley, so often people will use loan products that enable them to get more home for the budget by doing interest only loans (the most common now) or a loan that's fixed for a few years and then converts to adjustible (with a lower interest rate than a 30 year fixed loan).

Typically, if buyers come to me without having spoken in detail with a lender, I suggest that they speak to a lender soon after our first meeting - I know lots of experienced, ethical lenders who will assist them in choosing a loan type and setting up their target price range. Once that is established, they can start the paperwork submission process and are free to go shopping - and if they find the ideal home, they are far closer to being able to write an acceptable offer than if they were house-hunting "blind" to their true financial picture.

Getting the financing set upfront has several benefits to the buyer: no wasted time looking in the wrong price range, not having to make the loan choices under pressure (once a home has been located and then the loan has to fit the home), and the ability to line the financing up in advance so that the sellers will prefer to deal with them because the loan is not nearly as much of a question.

To start with the budget, find an excellent lender. There are many good ones, but not all lenders are equally good (or ethical, or experienced). If you're thinking of homebuying in Los Gatos, Saratoga or San Jose - or anywhere in Silicon Valley - don't just pick a name out of the phone book. Instead, call me and I'll happily give you the name of a good lender (or more if you want more).

Like a good Realtor, a good lender is your partner in homebuying. It's important to find the right match and to get the ball rolling early in the process. You'll save time and heartache by lining your financing up early on.