Click>here for a link to a map of parks in Saratoga, CA.

Rick Bonetti | APR Referral Network | 408-857-8800 | DRE #01237009

Buyers Market: As the chart above shows, according to Altos Research, Saratoga CA has been a “buyers market” since late 2007.  This means that the rate at which homes are being absorbed (sold) is relatively slow compared with total available inventory.  This market condition is more the case in the upper price range, but there was a good price distribution of Saratoga home sales during 2010 as the detail below shows.  There was actually a hot market for homes within the Saratoga school district in the $1.3-1.5 million price ranges during the Spring, 2010.

Sales Volume: There were 287 homes sold in Saratoga, CA during 2010.  Note: this includes only those homes listed on the Multiple Listing Service and there were a few properties sold, but not listed.  This volume  is up from 2009 and 2008, but lower that previous years prior to the national recession.  The average and median price of Saratoga homes sold during 2010 was actually higher than in 2004.

Price Range: Prices of detached homes actually sold (closed escrow) in 2010 ranged in price from $5.6 million to $456,000.

Inventory : At the start of 2011 there were only 68 detached homes and 8 attached homes listed on the Multiple Listing Service in Saratoga, CA.  This is expected in increase seasonally this Spring.

Distressed Sales: There were only 20 detached homes sold through the MLS that were distressed (Real Estate Owner or Short Sales) – this represents less than 8% of the market!

Days on Market: Many overpriced homes have been on the market quite a while, but for those properties that actually sold (closed escrow) the DOM in 2010 was a reasonable 66 days.

Here is the detail for 2010 detached homes sales (closed escrow) in Saratoga, CA:

Here is the detail for attached homes sold (closed escrow) in Saratoga, CA:

Rick Bonetti | APR Referral Network | 408-8800 | DRE #01237009

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Rick Bonetti | Alain Pinel Realtors | Saratoga, CA | 408-857-8800

Search of homes for sale in Saratoga, CA, by families with school age children, almost always starts with schools.  Market valuation of homes is directly related to API school scores.  Frequently at open house I will open a detailed map that shows the district boundaries for schools in Saratoga.

Saratoga Union School District covers Argonaut, Foothill and Saratoga Elementary Schools as well as Redwood Middle School.  Cupertino Union School District serves the northerly portion above Cox Ave. with Blue Hills and Krista McAullife elementary schools.  Campbell Union covers K-12. 

At the high school level Saratoga High School is the most coveted, followed by Monte Vista and Lynbrook High, then Westmont and Prospect High.  Saratoga is served by three high school districts: Los Gatos-Saratoga Joint Union High School District, Fremont Union High School District and Campbell Union High School District. 

Realtor.com has a map function that shows a variety of characteristics of neighborhoods.  The map above shows the boundary for the three school districts in Saratoga, CA 95070.  The website also has “heat maps” for average listing price, number of listings, average rental price, number of rentals and median household income.

Realtor.com’s points of interest map show homes for sale, schools and parks.  Showcase properties default to the top, most espensive 20 listings, so you have to toggle to see the price range that interests you.  I do like the feature that allows to zoom to Street View.  However, it does not seem to be up-to-date about status (it does not identify our listing at 20385 Wolcot  as pending). 

For most accurate homes for sale search results I suggest my Alain Pinel Realtors website (see link in the upper left corner of this blog).  If you send me an email I can also set up an automatic search engine to send you the most current updates… or just call me for help finding the best deal.

Rick Bonetti | Alain Pinel Realtors | 408-857-8800 | DRE #01237009

The question if get asked most frequently is “How’s the real estate market?”  It used to be that everyone read the newspapers and got their somewhat distorted news from the headlines; now people get their news online and from multiple sources.

I hope I have earned the right for you to turn to SaratogaVoice.com when you want a balanced perspective on what’ss really happening in homes for sale in Silicon Valley, particularly in the west valley communities of Saratoga, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Campbell and surrounding San Jose.

I could tell you about the 100 shopper groups we had at a Saratoga open house in the Golden Triangle the weekend before last and the multiple offers we had.  I could also point to the positive news today about the consumer confidence or that Case-Schiller says that home prices are rising in 14 metropolitan areas.  But, I also need to tell you that because real estate is so localized and fragmented that one cannot truly speak accurately in generalities about what the market is doing – every neighborhood is different.

Let me start by writing about the economic environment we still find ourselves in (the good and the bad) and make some predictions for their impact on real estate in Silicon Valley in 2010:

•    The Economy – we are technically out of a recession with 2 quarters of positive GNP growth and into a mild and slow recovery, but as we all know, unemployment is still high, which will continue to be a problem throughout 2010.  The economy is still fragile.
•    The stock market, which had phenomenal recovery during 2009 will have a 10% adjustment in value early in 2010 before it rebounds to 11,000.
•    Corporate Profits are up due to downsizing.
•    Unemployment is actually worse than the numbers indicate, because many jobs lost will not be replaced, due to globalization. It will take longer for those unemployed to find work ant those that do find jobs will likely be at income levels 20% below what they were making before.
•   Mortgage rates are very low and expected to remain relatively stable in 2010 with a slight uptick of ½-1%.  There is a current window of opportunity now!
•   Retail Sales have recently been good at both ends of the spectrum (Walmart to Nordstrom).
•  Corporate capital outlays for equipment have been positive.
•    The Federal deficit will drag down recovery, with $500 billion/year interest on our debt.
•   The value of the dollar has declined precipitously in the last three years as the Fed has not supported it, but printed money instead.
•    Commodity values are up relative to the declining dollar.
•    Politics – 2010 will be a watershed year politically with an ugly battle between those in favor of unrestrained free market capitalism and those seeking more security of a “hybrid” government- controlled economy.  Uncertainty will limit risky business investments until corporations know the rules of the game.
•    Real Estate will be very different than the old model of the past.  It is now very fragmented – in terms of the players, market dynamics and geographic diversity.
•    Sellers now include more banks, distressed situations and investors as well as traditional sellers.
•    Buyers in some areas now include investment funds, foreign investors as well as traditional family buyers.
•    Real Estate Investors – will continue to be important part of the market in the low end because rental properties actually cash flow positive as well as have future appreciation potential.
•    Appraisals will continue to be a problem, even if there are multiple offers.  Buyers will have to come up with more cash if properties do not appraise due to 90 day past history, and some home sales will not stick.
•    Residential financing, although improving in 2010, will continue to be a big issue in getting deals closed.  A niche market opportunity will be for astute buyers to closely follow homes with pending sales, whose deal does not hold together through the initial contingency period.
•   Refinancing will be problematic for owners who have 5 year ARM’s coming due in neighborhoods where values have dropped.  This will cause a shift from owner-occupied to renter-occupied in some neighborhoods where owners have not choice but to default on their loan, but do not want to leave the neighborhood because of schools.
•   Banks – have dominion over many lower priced submarkets, now controlling both release of inventory they own and terms for buyers.
•   REO - purchases from banks will be influenced in 2010 by bulk sales to big investment funds from the east coast.
•    Commercial real estate – will be different too with vacancies going up and rents going down.  As much as 20% of apartments will go into default in 2010 too.  Funds, as buyers of groups of buildings will be a greater influence in 2010.
•   The low end of the home market will continue to see a firming up of prices as REO inventory is sold to multiple bidders.
. The middle residential market, up to $1.5 million in Silicon Valley, will be a sleeper market that comes alive in 2010, but buyers will still be looking for value, so sellers must be flexible to make a deal.
•    The higher-value residential market, from $2-5 million will still suffer as prices continue to erode 5-15%.  Inability of upper end buyers to get loans as well as sparse 2010 corporate bonuses will put many buyers on hold.
•    The ultra luxury residential market, above $5 million will have more sellers than buyers, who will not make such a discretionary purchase unless the property is rare or exactly what they want.
•    Home values – for luxury Silicon Valley homes purchased at the 2006 peak will soften to 2002-2003 levels and in some cases to their1997-98 level.

If you really want to know about what’s happening in real estate in the specific neighborhoods you are interested in, send me an email and I will let you know what I think.

Rick Bonetti | Alain Pinel Realtors | 408-857-8800 | DRE #01237009

This construction will result in temporary traffic delays and will even impact traffic in Saratoga village, but the improvements will help safety on a beautiful, but curvy stretch of road and ultimately improve home values in this mountainous part of Saratoga.  Click>here for the environmental impact report.

Rick Bonetti | APR Referral Network | 408-857-8800 | DRE #01237009

Are you thinking about doing some remodeling? If so, for the best return on investment, go green. The new term is “eco-renovations” and some homebuyers are paying a premium for the added value of energy-efficient houses.

• Light Bulbs – Sounds too easy, but CFL florescent light bulbs use a quarter of the electricity as regular light bulbs. Since lighting on average accounts for 20% of your home energy use, this is a quick fix.
• Recycling -If your neighborhood doesn’t have curbside recycling, you can now recycle #5 plastics (cottage cheese, prescription drug and yogurt containers) at most Whole Foods locations.
• Energy Efficient Appliances – EPA’s Energy Star appliances may be 10% to 50% more energy efficient. Installing a programmable thermostat and motion detectors are advised. Visit the Department of Energy’s site for more information: www.eia.doe.gov
• Paints – Use new “low-VOC” paints, which stand for low “volatile organic compounds.” Many people with allergies, asthma and chemical sensitivities ask about this now.
• Tax Credits – With eco-remodeling, you may qualify for federal, state or local tax credits given for green projects. Search on www.thedailygreen.com for updates. Remember – green may bring more gold (money) when you decide to sell. So keep track of your improvements and document how your monthly energy bills change over time.

Meanwhile, the median listing price was stable through August and then started an upward surge.  This does not mean that prices of individual homes have not continued to drop as they found market accpetance, but there were relatively a greater number of higher priced homes as lowerer priced homes were being absorbed. 

For home buyers this relative scarcity means there will be greater upward pressure on home prices, particularly in the more affordable range. Home sellers need to remain realistic about the market value of their home so it sells quickly rather than languishes in the market.

Yesterday I attended REBarCampSiliconValley in San Jose, CA at the AXIS high-rise.  There were about 150 real estate bloggers  (like myself) who also use social media to connect with other Realtors to “stay ahead of the curve” and in the process provide better service to their clients.

While there were some outside professional consultants to the industry, almost everyone was quite knowledgeable and they contributed to the discussion rather than just sat back to be passive sponges taking in everything new.  It was what I call “open source” real estate.  We all learned from each other sharing our knowledge and experience openly without fear of having our secrets stolen by a competitor.  And as a result, we all benefited.  It was a free event and although there were generous sponsors who underwrote the event, few were blatantly pitching their services or product.

Today is Tech Tuesday at California Association of Realtors convention in San Jose, CA which will probably have a more traditional formal format of speakers and audience.  The convention floor will have vendors pitching their wares and a very different feel.

With the rise of the Internet, Realtors are no longer the guardians of private information about listings, but they are even more important to a transaction because of their knowledge and experience in contract matters, negotiating tactics, market trends, true market valuation, marketing, networking and customer service.  In the same way that today consumers are more proactive in their own health management, we still need doctors, lawyers, accountants and other professionals for their skills, detailed knowledge and experience.

Part of how I try to practice real estate  is to give a little more than is expected in this open source world. In Louisiana they call it “Lagniappe” (lan-yap) – It’s the unexpected treat at a nice restaurant; the extra roll in a bakers dozen; the free samples at Costco; even the penny jar at the local retailer.  This “open source real estate” in Saratoga, I call it the “Art and Heart of Real Estate.”

I am inspired by the saying of Jesus “Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” Luke 6:38