San Francisco Bay Area Housing Snapshot

Housing Inventory Snapshot January 31, 2014   Average List Price for active listings Median List Price for active listings Average DOM: for active listings/ for sold listings Santa Clara County, CA Single Family under $1M $690,675 $698,000 41  / 34 Single Family over $1M $2,879,982 $1,899,000 66  / 23 Condo/Townhome under $600K $413,425 $409,500 39  / 34 Condo/Townhome over $600K $855,255 $784,000 26  / 23 San Mateo County, CA Single Family under $1M $690,456 $679,000 41  / 31 Single Family over $1M $4,499,167 $2,100,000 76  / 22 Condo/Townhome under $600K $402,740 $425,000 36  / 35 Condo/Townhome over $600K $932,942 $846,275 36  / 6 Santa Cruz County, CA Single Family under $1M $637,981 $649,000 69  / 35 Single Family over $1M $2,117,319 $1,750,000 111  / 138 Condo/Townhome under $600K $393,327 $359,000 85  / 51 Condo/Townhome over $600K $849,182 $739,000 152  / 87 Monterey County, CA Single Family under $1M $564,867 $499,000 71  / 54 Single Family over $1M $3,531,699 $2,295,000 116  / 145 Condo/Townhome under $600K $303,856 $249,000 80  / 66 Condo/Townhome over $600K $933,776 $725,000 83  / N/A** San Benito County, CA Single Family under $1M $533,637 $488,800 61  / 81 Alameda County, CA Single Family under $1M $513,633 $498,000 44  / 83 Single Family over $1M $2,061,946 $1,478,888 84  / 84 Condo/Townhome under $600K $374,727 $365,000 48  / 75 Condo/Townhome over $600K $768,324 $697,280 39  / 69 Contra Costa County, CA Single Family under $1M $484,078 $425,000 49  / 89 Single Family over $1M $2,484,534 $1,599,000 91  / 100 Condo/Townhome under $600K $311,574 $295,000 37  / 73 Condo/Townhome over $600K $707,300 $695,000 17  / 68

What I find most interesting about these stats is that in Alameda, San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties, the more expensive homes and condos sold have a shorter days on market than the less expensive Silicon Valley homes sold.

This shows that the good economy, low unemployment rate, high stock market values, as well as foreign money are all contributing to a booming market in Silicon Valley luxury real estate sales. It is also an indication that we saw high levels of appreciation in 2013 in Silicon Valley home sales (20-40% in many areas) so it is harder to find single family homes under a million dollars or condos under six hundred thousand dollars in the more popular neighborhoods.

So what does this mean for buyers in 2014? Homes are more expensive and sell quickly. You should study the market seriously for a while before jumping in so you know what values are and where they are going. Make intelligent offers that will most likely need to be very aggressive to win in a multiple offer situations.

For sellers, hire a great agent who can help you price your home to get the best terms for your yourself, and exposure that emphasizes the Silicon Valley home you are selling, not the agent who is selling it.

If you have any questions about buying or selling a home in the Silicon Valley please feel free to contact me.

If you would like a real time search of homes sale in the Silicon Valley click here.

Marcy Moyer

Keller Williams Realty

www.marcymoyer.com

marcy@marcymoyer.com

Ca BRE 01191194

650-619-9285

Santa Clara High Schools Get Top Grades

Santa Clara County High Schools Score High in US News and World Report "Best High Schools in the US"

Santa Clara County has some wonderful high schools, and many of them have received sterling accolades--including national rankings in US News and World Report's annual list of the country's best. This year, 10 of Santa Clara County's high schools were among the highest rated schools in the nation. 

Gold medal winners include Monte Vista High (which ranked a 73--this list considers schools from all fifty states), Gunn High (74), and Saratoga High (80). The 7 silver medal winners (which were schools that fell between 101 and 200 on the rankings list) include Palo Alto High, Evergreen High, Lynbrook High, Los Gatos High, Leland High, Homestead High, and Mountain View High. 

Congratulations to all the students, teachers, families, and staff that have worked so hard to make Santa Clara County's schools among the best in the country.  Their hard work and the achievement of these schools is just another reason to take pride in this area! 

With all the amazing options around, it can sometimes be difficult to decide which school district is right for your children. If you're looking for real estate in the area and have any questions, I can help. 

San Jose High-Rises Keep Sales Up in Santa Clara County

If you haven't checked out this article from a few days ago, published in Mercury News, you really should--it bears good news for buyers, sellers, and people just interested in an indicator from the real estate front about how the economy is going downtown San Jose. While new home sales in September were pretty dismal throughout California, one pocket in Santa Clara showed an opposite trend.  In downtown San Jose and parts of Palo Alto new condo sales were up nearly 150% from the previous year. 

Some of the condos were high-rise, expensive properties, and almost all of them attracted a specific kind of buyer--tech workers, empty nesters, people who'd been renting downtown for a while. There's an interesting question lurking behind this boom in condo sales--since the burst of the housing bubble, are condos in prime downtown areas simply a safer investment? Do people feel more comfortable purchasing condos over houses these days, or is this a matter of coincidence? What do you think?

Click here for the full story, written by Sue McAllister.

Silicon Valley Affordable?

For a long time, Silicon Valley has been one of the most expensive areas in areas in the country for home buyers. While that's not exactly about to change, things are looking pretty different around here. In Santa Clara County, one fifth of the houses for sale are now priced at or lower than $450,000. For many people, that number is nowhere near "affordable" but prices like this haven't been seen in this area since 2005.  That means people with incomes of around $115,000 can afford to buy in this area. What's your opinion on falling house prices?

Investors, Look No Further Than Santa Clara County

The Realty Times has a section where you can read recent analysis of market conditions by area brokers for nearly every county in the country. Two days ago, Karen Biglarderi posted her forecast for Santa Clara County. It's titled--EVERYTHING IS ON SALE! SAVVY INVESTORS ARE BUYING NOW! 

She's got a point. Silicon Valley has an incredibly iron-clad economy. It's been one of the last areas to tighten its belt during the housing crisis, and it'll be one of the first back on its feet. The reason--plenty of jobs, and most people have them. 

Biglarderi says in 20 years of real estate, she's never seen a Buyer's market this strong. She calls it the "Perfect Storm" and relates what we've all been seeing--attractive interest rates, large numbers of houses on the market, and sellers ready to make some pretty hefty concessions. It's also pretty easy to lock a loan as long as you've got a good job, good credit, and some cash stashed in a savings account. Because Silicon Valley isn't likely to see a significant long-lasting downturn in the economy, investing now, while a lot of houses are on the market and things aren't as expensive as usual is definitely worth considering and will likely pay off. 

The areas that aren't necessarily part of this perfect buyer's storm are in those resistant pockets of Santa Clara County (Palo Alto, Los Altos, Cupertino, parts of Sunnyvale) where properties still get multiple offers and often sell for much higher than the list price. It's probably not a good idea to swoop into any of these areas in search of the perfect investment. Other parts of Santa Clara County, however, are up for grabs. 

The Numbers---Median Home Prices, Sales, and Percent Change

Check out these numbers from Mercury News summarizing median home prices, sales, and percent changes in Santa Clara County and San Mateo County. The numbers are specific by town.

Here are the numbers for all homes in San Mateo--Price:$693,000

%Chg $/SqFt #Sold %Chg
-15.4% $504 506 -26.2%

LINK- San Mateo Median Home Prices and Sales


Here are the numbers for all homes in Santa Clara--Price:$623,500

%Chg $/SqFt #Sold %Chg
-12.7% $420 1,341 -33.0%

LINK= Santa Clara County Median Home Prices and Sales

A good clearcut l0ok at how the local market's changed and what you can expect to get for your home if you're a seller. The biggest difference is in the area of new homes where the drop in sales is over fifty percent. Anyone surprised? But that doesn't herald such bad news here---it means this market is still tight, so sellers shouldn't have trouble finding buyers.

How Long Will it Take to Sell Santa Clara Homes?

I got the idea for this post from the latest post on Sue McAllister's Square Feet Blog, published in association with Mercury News. 

She gives a quick breakdown of how many days, on average, it's taking to sell houses in different parts of Santa Clara County. 

These numbers don't include condos, and they represent the amount of days it would take to sell out the existing homes for sale given the pace of sales in a recent five week period. 

For South County: 187 days 

Santa Teresa, Blossom Valley, Milpitas, North Valley: 117 days

East/Central/South San Jose: 181 days

Saratogo, Los Gatos: 130 days

Cupertino, Sunnyvale: 62

Santa Clara, Willow Glen, Campbell, Cambrian: 102

Los Altos, Palo Alto, Mountain View: 52

Most of these numbers used to be a lot higher.

CLICK HERE for Sue McAllister's blog post. 

Silicon Valley Sales are UP

Despite all the bad news out there about slashed prices and houses sitting for months without a buyer, transaction amounts in Santa Clara county are nearly equal to those at the height of 05's boom. Because prices have fallen, people who couldn't qualify for mortgages three years ago are now able to buy. 

Here's a quote from Santa Clara County Median Home Price, Sales Tumbled published in Mercury News two days ago--

"For each of the past four weeks, more than 300 houses a week found buyers and went into escrow, the first time that's happened since May 2005."

The prices are attractive to people looking for homes--not so much for investors who probably wouldn't be able to make a profit off of rents too low to cover monthly taxes, the mortgage, and other costs. 

The median price of homes in the Bay Area is down 26% since May 2007. That's a drop from about $720,000 to $535,750