For the most recent Los Gatos real estate market information, please click on the header above to visit the current week's worth of posts. Every few days, this blogsite will have a market comment, so please visit this site often.


What is the housing market doing in Los Gatos now? Market analysts are divided as to whether it will settle down by the end of this quarter and bring us a better 2008 or if the market will continue to be sluggish for another year or two with increasingly decling sales and in some areas, declining home values. No one knows the future, but there are convincing arguements for both outcomes!

Let's have a look at October's numbers.

Los Gatos prices are up from a year ago -13.7% for the median sales price and 21.5% for the average sales price. But the number of sales was off a whopping 60.6% from the same month last year!

Are home values rising? Not necessarily.

This could be an indicator that what little is selling happens to be selling in the wealthier sectors
of the market. Low end homes are possibly suffering a more direct hit from the mortgage fallout than the extremely high end homes.

An excellent tool for evaluating the market is the absorption rate or "months of inventory". It is the rate at which homes are selling - it is a better indicator than days on the market as it incorporates the pace at which new listings are coming on the market too. This number shows how many months it would take to sell off the current inventory if no new homes were to come on the market. Below please find my graphs for single family homes and also for condos in Los Gatos this year.

Below please find the Single Family Homes in Los Gatos in 2007 "Months of Inventory" (fewer months is a stronger seller's market, more months is a stronger buyer's market). Data pulled from REIL.com, our mls provider.

Over 6 months is considered to be a "Buyer's Market". So the market has become much more favorable for buyers this fall. (Buyers: this is a good opportunity for you to buy now!)

Below, please find Condos and Townhomes in Los Gatos in 2007 "Months of Inventory" (data from REIL, our local MLS provider - math by Mary).

Interestingly, the condo market appears healthier than the single family home market. Is it a matter of affordability? I suspect that it's driven by first time homebuyers who have cash in hand. The more entry level homes in Los Gatos that are single family homes are frequently not a buyer's first home, but a step up. The lower priced homes in the valley are having trouble selling because of the subprime fallout. My thinking is that the stalling out of those sales is impacting the ability to sell entry level homes in Los Gatos.

Here's a key "take away" from this peculiar disparity: this is an EXCELLENT time for condo and townhome owners to sell their current home and make a move up into a single family home. Seldom do things line up so perfectly for this kind of a move!

Want more data? My Real Estate Report is now updated with October's numbers for Los Gatos, Saratoga, and all of Silicon Valley (including by district within San Jose).

To get the county view in a spreadsheet including Los Gatos and nearby cities, look on the left sidebar and click Monthly Trends under the County headline (if you go to the Monthly Trends under the San Jose headline, it will bring you Almaden Valley, Cambrian Park, Willow Glen, etc. rather than the Campbell, Saratoga, etc.). Scroll down on the main part of the page and click on the Continued button.

To view charts of market activity, sales and listings in Los Gatos in particular, click on the words "Los Gatos" in the left sidebar.

This report is updated monthly, usually around the 7th-10th of the month.

If you would like even more information, please view the 4 page, printable PDF version, which includes less statistical information but more market commentary:

For more information on the market, your neighborhood or your home, please contact me!

Warm regards,
Mary

Mary Pope-Handy, Realtor, CRS, ABR, e-PRO, SRES, ASP, RECS, CNHS
Helping Nice Folks to Buy & Sell Homes Since 1993
Co-Author: "Get The Best Deal When Selling Your Home In Silicon Valley"
Intero Real Estate Services, Los Gatos, CA (Silicon Valley)
408 357-5760 (Direct); 408 204-7673 (Cell)
www.PopeHandy.com www.ValleyOfHeartsDelight.com
Mary@PopeHandy.com

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