17% of Agents Responsible for 70% of Volume
2007 real estate agent productivity statistics are in, revealing that 83% of all agents in Santa Clara County accounted for only 30% of total volume selling four homes or less last year; this include 44% of the licensees who had no sales at all!. That means that 17% of the…
Strong Housing Demand With Limited Supply
There are still only 61 resale homes available in Saratoga and the under $1.7 market is strong with 3 new sales (open escrow) this past week at Glenbrae Dr., Harleigh and Cumberland Drive. There were 14 new listings added, but 11 were also taken off the market. Of the 17 detached homes…
What’s In and What’s Out
Trends in home design reflect changing tastes, lifestyles and demographics. Here is a sample of what is hot and what is not: Great Rooms are In – Large Living Rooms are Out Quality finishing is In – McMansions are Out 9′-11′ ceilings are In – Very tall ceilings are Out Functionality…
Saratoga Real Estate Trends
Will the 2008 Saratoga resale housing market repeat the 2008 and see a spike in pending sales? Early indications suggest yes. Inventory is down from the previous year level. Interest rates are low and should remain low based on the expectation that the Fed will further reduce their discount rate…
Are Short Sale Properties Good Investments?
We are sometimes asked about short sale properties (where a lender agrees to take less than the full amount due on a loan). We do not keep a list of short sale properties nor is it a business that we pursue because of some practical problems. Our recent experience has…
January Upturn Like Clockwork
This past weekend homebuyers seemed to “wake up” from the holiday doldroms with good open house traffic and interest reported. So far this is not yet reflected in sales, but inventory is still low (now at 62 homes on the market in Saratoga). Because of the low inventory, three market…
San Jose Jazz Part of Silicon Valley Lifestyle
One of the great things about living in Silicon Valley is that you can enjoy (although I rarely can, because I am usually holding Open Houses) the Sunday Jazz winter series in Downtown San Jose.  The series starts January 20th and runs through March 30, 2008. Music starts at 3PM at The Improv at…
Downtown San Jose Residences Rising
Now emerging in the downtown (SoFA district) San Jose landscape is a new 23 story luxury High-Rise project called 360 Residences, with 213 homes for sale, ranging in price from the mid $500K’s to over $2 million. Condominiums range in size from 795 to 3,440 sf. Scheduled completion is next year (Spring 2009). There is…
Alain Pinel Shines
Who says the real estate market is weak? Alain Pinel Realtors just announced $7.2 Billion in transactions for 2007, compared with $6.6 Billion in 2006! In 2007 we did $870 million out of our Saratoga office alone, for an average of $6.1 million per agent and 5.1 units per agent. …
