The Indian community in Saratoga, CA is vibrant and growing.  Tonight, August 21, 2010 from 6PM to 9PM the Saratoga Village Development Council  is sponsoring a Bollywood Dance on Big Basin Way, featuring three classsic Bollywood dance performances and a DJ music parking lot dance at Bank of America.

Big Basin Vineyards is having a grand opening of their new tasting room today at 14598 Big Basin Way, Suite B, Saratoga, CA 95070 (left of Cinnabar Winery Tasing Room).

Big Basin Vineyards is know for it’s Syrah with it’s Coastal Vineyard located high in the Gabilan Mountains with a commanding view of the Salinas Valley and Monterey Bay.  Fairview Ranch is the source for distinctive Santa Lucia Highlands Syrah fruit.

Vineyards for Pinot Noir and Syrah (Alfaro Family, Lester Family and Woodruff Family ) are in the Corralitos region of the Santa Cruz Mountains.

The mountains betweenSaratoga and the Pacific Ocean is becoming more well known as a premium wine district. Winemaker Bradley Brown is part of the Santa Cruz Mountains Winegrowers Association.  Sumit To Sea Wine Trail markets Big Basin Vineyards  and 2 for 1 wine tastings in the Santa Cruz Mountains for:

• Burrell School Vineyards
• Hunter Hill Winery
• Loma Prieta Winery
• Poetic Cellars
• Vine Hill Winery

Rick Bonetti | Alain Pinel Realtors | 408-857-8800

Los Gatos and Monte Sereno, CA (zip codes 95030 and 95032) have a relatively small percentage of homes in foreclosure, compared with other parts of Santa Clara County, but are not completely immune from the ravages of the economic downturn.

There are currently only 11 Los Gatos or Monte Sereno distressed homes currently available for sale listed on the MLS (multiple listing service).

Home buyers often ask me if there are distressed home bargains available and I caution them that shorts sales are often frustrating to buyers, sellers and real estate agents; REO properties, already owned by the bank are much more likely to close escrow.

National Distressed Property Trends – To put local markets in perspective with what you may read in the newspaper, the National Association of Realtors reported that “in the past year approximately 33 percent of existing home sales at the national level have involved distressed properties (foreclosures, short sales) selling at discounts of 15 to 20 percent from non-distressed market prices—exerting a major negative impact on overall market prices.

Shaddow Inventory – There is still national concern over a potential shadow inventory of distressed properties – “as of the first quarter of 2010 over 6.5 million homes were in foreclosure or had overdue mortgage payments. Possibly as much as 75 percent of the shadow inventory will ultimately be sold as distressed. However, given the ongoing time delays for problem resolution it appears that distressed properties will enter the market at approximately the current or a slightly increased rate for the next few years.

In summary NAR says: “Foreclosures are a major negative market influence in terms of price, consumer confidence, and expectations; however, a tsunami of shadow inventory appears unlikely.”

The West Valley of Silicon Valley does not follow the national trend.  It is still one of the better places for homebuyers concerned about stable property values.

Rick Bonetti | Alain Pinel Realtors | 408-857-8800

John Shapiro of Private Mortgage Advisors (affiliate of Wells Fargo Mortgage) forecasts that ”I think we will see flat rates at these levels until the fall.  At that point I would expect a seasonal increase but not a dramatic one.  Rates won’t dramatically rise until unemployment improves markedly.” 

John also says that, ”based on continuing economic bad news the yield on the 10 year treasury has continued to fall.  This decline would normally mean lower rates but that is not what we are seeing.  Rates have been almost flat for the past several weeks despite big drops in the bond yield which indicates to me that the rates are as low as they are going to be barring a geopolitical disaster.”

 I my Sunday blog post I noted that Wells Fargo was introducing several new programs 8/16/10.  The first allows for expanded LTV’s on many high balance conforming mortgages.  Another expansion includes increased ability to use retirement assets for reserves.  Additionally, as of Monday the qualification on all short term ARMS (3/1 ARM and 5/1 ARM) now includes a more stringent qualification metric (620 credit scores instead of 720).

Rick Bonetti | Alain Pinel Realtors | 408-857-8800

I love interactive maps and potential homebuyers can get lots of important information online at the official Los Gatos City website about property they are considering purchasing.  You can search by street address or assessors parcel number and get maps showing topography, zoning, general plan designation, buildings, lot size and more – even street sweeping schedules!  Check it out.

(PS: You have to used Internet Explorer and download a MapGuide Viewer).

Rick Bonetti | Alain Pinel Realtors | 408-857-8800