Christmas countdown
Saratoga inventory is down further to a very low 69 homes as we count only 8 more days until Christmas.  The average price is now a huge $3.0 million, skewed by 19% of the remaining listings in excess of $4.3 million, including a $14.9 million estate on Matilija and an $8.6 million, updated, vintage…
Strong Saratoga Demand Despite Mortgage Adjustments
The Fed has once again this week made a .25% cut in the federal funds rate to stimulate confidence and liquidity in the secondary mortgage market, but jumbo loans are likely to stay higher than conforming loans for a while. These things take time to work out. By Febuary 2008 we are likely…
Saratoga Inventory is Very Low
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but the Saratoga real estate market is still strong with 5 new sales (West Road priced at $1.995 million after 205 DOM; Ravenwood priced at $1.649 million; Bohlman Rd price at $1.5995 million; Afton priced at $1.389 million; and Park Place priced at…
Saratoga Real Estate Weekly Update
Inventory declined again this past week to this year’s low of 77 single family homes available in Saratoga, due to 8 properties being sold (sale pending) and 12 homes being removed from the market (expired, cancelled or withdrawn).  5 sales pendings were in the $1.2-1.7 million price band, including homes on…
Buyers Market vs. Sellers Market Trends
Silicon Valley real estate is comprised of twenty four market areas. Based on an index of “pending sales” representing 25% or more of total inventory, here is a summary of whether each market area has a tendency to be more of a Buyers Market or Sellers Market: 1 Morgan Hill,…
Saratoga Real Estate Weekly Update
People were not toally consumed with turkey this past week, but interest shifted to modestly price land rather than houses. There were 3 new sales (open escrows), all primarily for land value – including a probate land sale on Prospect, a 1/3 acre land sale on Pierce and a 1/4…
Saratoga Weekly Single Family Recap
This past week 7 homes were newly added to the market, but  2 were newly sold (pending) and 8 expired, cancelled or withdrawn dropping the available inventory down to 86 homes.  The two properties sold (pending) were a $1.65 million property midway up Big Basin Way toward the Summit that was on…
The Wrong View and the Long View
People frequently ask me about foreclosures in Silicon Valley; If you pay attention to the media instead of understand the facts, you are likely to get the “wrong view”. The biggest increase in defaults in California is in the Central Valley and the Inland Empire (San Bernardino and Riverside counties)…
Months of Resale Home Inventory Index
“Months of Inventory” is a good indicator of the relative supply/demand balance in a housing submarket. It is calculated by dividing the number of current listings on the market by the recent number of sales per month. A lower number is better than a higher number. Actual absorption varies greatly…
Saratoga Weekly Single Family Recap
The Saratoga market is starting to follow a seasonal pattern of declining inventory – now at 87 single family homes available even though 6 new properties were added. Inventory is down from 111 last year at this time. There were 15 sales this past week, but a sign that the…
Saratoga LED Holiday Light Contest
Notice how quickly Halloween decorations come down after 10/31 and how long Christmas decorations stay up? Well, that means lots of electricity expended to brighten our holidays. So the West Valley Green Leaf Committee is running a contest to encourage residents of Saratoga, Monte Sereno and Los Gatos to convert…
Market Inteligence
Who says its a bad real estate market in Saratoga?  The high end is finally getting some juice with Juna (listed at $6.4 million) selling today, plus two lovely Montalvo Heights homes now in escrow (listed at $5.9 and 5.5 million) and another $5.0 million pending sale on Panorama Drive. The…
Saratoga Weekly Single Family Recap
This past week in Saratoga there were 16 new sales, 2 closings and 7 new Saratoga properties were added to the market (including a great property the Moe Banian and I have listed at 13587 Saraview Drive) bringing to total inventory to 97 homes. 8 properties, with 131 CDOM had…
Pending With Release Clause
A good indication of a shifting balance between buyers and sellers market would be the number of pending homes that have release clause addendum.  We would expect to see more “Pending With Release” (status2)  sales if were a “buyers market” in Saratoga. As of this morning, of the 36 homes currently pending in Saratoga only one is…
