Live in Los Gatos Blog

Los Gatos real estate market trends and statistics

August 8, 2022August 8, 2022 Mary Pope-Handy, Clair Handy

The Los Gatos real estate market continues cooling, but it is still a solid seller’s market – just not as hot as it was a few months ago. We are past the peak of the market and are seeing significant cooling with every data point over the last 2-3 months.

As of today, August 8, some info on single family homes in LG 95030 & 95032:

48 single family homes are on the market in “Active” status – that is way down compared to both last month and the month before (of those, 3 are listed as “agent only, show”, and 2 are “agent only, do not show”). The agent only listings means that they are not syndicated to other websites, meaning 13 of the homes for sale will not be seen on places like Realtor.com.
4 houses are under contract but there are contingencies of some kind in place (could be loan, appraisal, property inspection, buyer to sell current home, seller to find a replacement home) – so those sales may not go through.
23 houses are sale pending, no contingencies (this is a small number compared to the active listings) – it was 15 last month at my last update for this post
19 houses have closed escrow in the last month, down from 25 last month. The trend has been toward a drop in sales.
The average sale price to list price ratio for these 25 houses was 100% (down from 104% for my July update) – this figure has been falling consistently

Multi Year Statistics: Los Gatos real estate market

Here is some multiple year over year Los Gatos real estate market data that I pulled directly from the MLS today:

Inventory

Inventory slipped a little as compared to June. It remains below what has been normal since 2013.

Los Gatos real estate market: number of SOLD homes

The number of sales is not keeping up with the new inventory pouring on the market. Buyers are less interested than they once were in buying. The culprits for the change in motivation are simple: much higher interest rates, high sale prices, the devaluation of stocks (the source of many down payments), fears of recession, and uncertainty due to the Russian war in Ukraine.

I’ve added the average numbers for January – July to provide perspective on whatever “normal” may look like. January and February were above average, but since then the sales have been below average.

Average number of sales - Los Gatos 95030 and 95032 SFH — Los Gatos real estate – average number of sales

Where to buy the Los Gatos cat statues?

August 8, 2022August 5, 2022 Mary Pope-Handy, Clair Handy

Where can you purchase the ubiquitous Los Gatos cat statues for your own home or yard?

At times, these can be hard to find, but recently we spotted them in two places and wanted to share that info with our readers.

You’ll notice that they are not exactly alike, but similar. Oddly enough, both are on the same street, though in adjoining towns.

Where to shop for the Los Gatos cat statues:

The image on the left is from the SummerWinds Nursery in Campbell.

The photo on the right was taken at Pottery Planet.

I phoned the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce to see if they are still selling them, as they once did, but was told no. However, the nice woman I spoke with let me know that they can also be found at Natural Creations.

Happy shopping!

SummerWinds Nursery, 2460 S Winchester Blvd, Campbell, CA 95008. https://www.summerwindsnursery.com/

Pottery Planet, 15796 Winchester Blvd, Los Gatos, CA 95030. https://www.potteryplanetlosgatos.com/

Natural Creations, 108 N Santa Cruz Ave A, Los Gatos, CA 95030 (flower shop, no website)

End of Summer Night Ride and Pasta Dinner

July 30, 2022July 30, 2022 Mary Pope-Handy

Each August, the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad and W.E. “Bill” Mason Carousel host their End of Summer Night Ride, a pasta dinner fundraiser!

End of Summer Night Ride details

This year, the event will be held Sunday on Aug 14, 2022 from 5:30 PM – 8:30 PM.

At the very end of the summer season, the railroad and carousel hold their second major fundraiser of the year – the End of Summer Night Ride and Pasta Dinner. Evening activities begin at 5:30pm, and the last train departs at 8:30pm. You can either purchase one combo train and carousel ticket, for one ride on each, at $7, or get the unlimited pass (sold per person) and ride as many times as you want all evening for $20 per person.

Remember that children 2 and under ride free with paying adult.

Dinner is served from 6-8pm, and a donation (amount not currently listed, it was $10 a few years ago) will get you a plate piled high with spaghetti and meat sauce, a garden salad or caprese, and garlic bread. Vegetarian options are available, and beverages are an extra fee (beer and wine will be available for purchase). Additional donations are always welcome.

The Promenade

July 28, 2022July 28, 2022 Mary Pope-Handy

The Promenade in Los Gatos brings the summer music events we love to North Santa Cruz Avenue on several Thursdays this summer. Tonight is the last one!

The Promenade details

You can enjoy a car-free N. Santa Cruz Avenue with music, strolling, shopping, drinks, and dining between 5 pm and 9 pm. If you want to bring folding chairs to sit closer to the band, it’s allowed.

Tonight’s performers are Lavender Falls and FLO.

You’ll be able to purchase alcohol (1 drink at a time, with wristband at an ID station) up to 8 p.m.

Today’s weather will be mild – it should be a perfect evening to be outdoors!

All of the details are on the Los Gatos Chamber of Commerce’s website.

Related reading:

Los Gatos Free Musical Concert Series

Los Gatos Youth Theatre Summer Musicals

The Almond Grove neighborhood

List of Los Gatos neighborhoods (with links to articles describing each one)

Where are the Natural Hazards in Los Gatos?

July 27, 2022July 26, 2022 Mary Pope-Handy, Clair Handy

Where are the natural hazards in Los Gatos?

People relocating here often ask about the natural hazard zones in our area, such as:

earthquake fault zones
100 year flood plains
liquefaction areas
landslide zones
radon
high fire hazard severity zones
and they wonder if they’ve missed anything else?

Quick resources to get you started

There are two quick and high level resources to help with a basic understanding of where these zones are.
First, the Los Gatos General Plan 2040 has a lot of good info online. It’s a PDF, so not interactive, but it is a great starting point in getting to know the natural hazards in Los Gatos.

Second, the Cal OES My Hazards Awareness site, which I discuss below, is an interactive website with clear imagery that provides a high level sense of where the various hazard zones may be.

Resources to learn about the Natural Hazards in Los Gatos

There are many good and interactive websites with detailed information and after getting a broad feeling from the general plan, this is my preferred next step.

A great interactive resource for seeing several of the zones at once is the California Office of Emergency Management My Hazards Awareness website. The visuals are pretty good overall, but if you click on what appears to be the San Andreas Earthquake Fault, the map doesn’t provide additional information, unfortunately. As a starting point in a consumer’s research, though, it’s extremely useful.

The CAL OES My Hazards Awareness website, screenshot pictured above, covers the state mapped natural hazard zones, but not the local (county or city or town areas). Also it does not cover flooding from dam failure or levee breaches, as dams and levees bursting is considered a man made hazard, not a natural one. The CAL My Hazards site does include earthquake faults, liquefaction zone, the high fire risks in the state responsibility areas (not the local responsibility areas), 100 year flood plains, landslide areas, etc.

Important: The fire zone does not appear to be updated on the CAL My Hazards site. The best map for understand the high fire hazard severity zones and similar areas is using the CAL Fire site, FHSZ Viewer (Fire Hazard Severity Zone Viewer).

Local hazard zones

Interactive map to view risk of flooding from dam failure in Los Gatos

July 25, 2022July 25, 2022 Mary Pope-Handy

The risk of flooding from dam failure in Los Gatos appears to be mainly from four reservoirs, all tying into the Los Gatos Creek at some point or another. Recently Clair found a great resource for better understanding this risk, and we wanted to share it with our readers.

The usual home seller disclosures include a natural and environmental hazard report, but the info does not go into deep detail. For instance, it may state that a location is in a zone of potential flooding from dam failure, but it does not tell the reader which dam it is. At times I’ve sold homes that were in that designated area but wondered whether the dam was a smaller or larger one (my concern being how much water could come through).

Now, more of those questions can be answered by visiting the state of California’s Dam Breach Inundation Map Web Publisher.

This site is very easy to use and to understand. The dams are marked with colors to indicate the downstream risk. Larger dams that spill into more populated areas appear to be those at higher risk, but perhaps they have a different formula for that designation.

Once you zoom in to your desired area (most counties appear to be participating, and MOST dams appear to be included in this publication), just click on the colored box and wait for the information to populate. It is sometimes a little slow, but after a few seconds it will appear.

LGYT fundraiser

July 19, 2022 Mary Pope-Handy

Tomorrow evening you can enjoy some wonderful pizza and support the Los Gatos Youth Theatre! Pizza My Heart will be giving 30% of the proceeds to support the program!

From the LGYT fundraiser chair:

“We here at LGYT are constantly looking for ways to help our families best support our kids on stage and, well, I think we’ve done it again: all your Wednesday evening dining needs are solved!! Pizza My Heart in downtown Los Gatos is helping us fundraise by donating 30% of every purchase that mentions LGYT at the time of purchase back to our organization. Wednesday, 7/20 from 4-9pm is the official timing, but they’re even going to count mentions during the afternoon.”

Here’s to good eating for a good cause! Please participate in the LGYT fundraiser and enjoy some yummy pizza!

Looking to catch a performance?

It is show week for Freaky Friday! Performances are

July 21 7pm Kitt cast

July 22nd 7:00pm Yorkey cast

July 23rd 2:00pm Yorkey cast AND 7:00pm Kitt cast

July 24th 12:00pm Kitt cast AND 5:00pm Yorkey cast

Tickets are on sale @ https://lgyt.seatyourself.biz

marketing@lgyt.net