Silicon Valley Market Trends & Year in Review

Santa Clara County Real Estate Market Overview: Houses

Santa Clara County residential real estate trends at a glance 2011For Santa Clara County as a whole, single-family, re-sales home sales were up 0.5% last year. Unfortunately, after a nice gain in 2010, prices were down. The median price for homes dropped 5.3% and the average price was off 1%. What about individual cities or towns?

  • San Jose: prices were down too (median off 5.9%, average down 3.5%)
  • Los Gatos: prices are up year over year (median up 6.4%, average up 5.1%)
  • Saratoga is off for the year with 2012 prices down about 2% BUT the numbers for the month of December year over year are completely "on fire" with the median year over year at + 22% and the average year over year + 29%

Some good news on the REO front: The number of properties owned by the banks was down 15.5% year-over-year.

To see all the numbers for houses in the many Santa Clara County communities, please visit www.popehandy.rereport.com.  If you are new to this newsletter, please note that if you select San Jose for any of the reports, you can then select an area, such as Willow Glen, Almaden, Cambrian etc. to receive either a monthly, quarterly or annual report as well as reports going back about 10 years. Finally, it's also possible to track sales activity around any house in the county by clicking on the property analysis tab (just be patient as it loads slowly!).

How's the condo market in Santa Clara County?

Condo sales in Santa Clara County were up 12.2% over 2010. The median price for condos dropped 13%.

  • San Jose: median down 10.7%, average sales price down 8.9%
  • Los Gatos: median price year over year was + 6.4%, the average sales price was up 5%
  • Saratoga: median price up 7.7%, average price up 6.8%

 Santa Clara County number of home sales (condos and houses) 2003 - 2011  

To learn more about the condo market in Silicon Valley, please see the condo report for Santa Clara County.

2012 forecast from the California Association of Realtors

THE CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® expects the median home price to increase 1.7% in 2012. They forecast sales to increase by 1%.

“2012 will be another transition year for the California housing market, as the continued uncertainty about the U.S. financial system, job growth, and the stability of the overall economy remain in the forefront for all market participants,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young.  “An improvement in job growth, consumer spending, and corresponding gains in housing are essential to a broader recovery in the economy, but would-be buyers will remain cautious as they weigh these myriad uncertainties against the clear opportunities presented by today’s very affordable housing market.

“The most likely scenario is for the modest recovery to continue, and this should push sales up slightly next year by 1 percent and maintain levels that are significantly higher than those recorded during the depths of the housing downturn.

“The wild cards for 2012 are many, including federal, fiscal, monetary, and housing policies; the contentious political climate during an election year; and the strength of the U.S. economic recovery,” said Appleton-Young.

For more information, you may enjoy reading the 4 page printable report:

http://rereport.com/scc/print/Mary.PopeHandySCC.pdf

Very best regards and Happy New Year,

 
 
Mary Pope-Handy
Realtor, CRS, ABR, ASP, e-PRO, SRES, ASP, CNHS
Sereno Group - Los Gatos Office
408 204-7673

 

 

Mary Pope-Handy voted Co-Author: Get the Best Deal When Selling Your Home in Silicon Valley
Helping Nice Folks to Buy & Sell Homes in Silicon Valley since 1993

Named "Best real estate agent in Silicon Valley" by 2011 Mercury News readers

Sereno Group Real Estate, Los Gatos

 

Contact Information

Photo of Mary Pope-Handy Real Estate
Mary Pope-Handy
Sereno Group Real Estate
214 Los Gatos-Saratoga Road
Los Gatos CA 95030
408 204-7673
Fax: 408 399-7236

DRE #01153805