by Mary Pope-Handy | Mar 12, 2021 | Homes & Housing Market, Los Gatos Neighborhoods, Los Gatos Real Estate
One of the more confusing areas in Los Gatos may the Alberto Way. There are a number of HOA communities and for those new to the area, they may all blur together.
Los Gatos Commons
The largest complex along Alberto Way in Los Gatos is the The Los Gatos Commons, a senior community with 110 units. (To read more about senior housing in the area, please see my post on it here.)
As with most senior housing, the units at The Commons are more affordable than the majority of Los Gatos condos. The Commons was built in 1978 and requires that at least one resident be 55 years of age or more. As of 2020, you may be able to purchase a a unit there between $500,000 and $700,000.
Pueblo de Los Gatos
A smaller condo community just a little closer to Los Gatos-Saratoga Road, and on the opposite side of Alberto Way, is Pueblo de Los Gatos. These homes are a little further away from Highway 17, are a little quieter, and are not senior housing. They tend to sell for a little more than the homes across the way. There seems to be about a 5% to 10% difference in price, most of which may be attributable to freeway noise, but part of it to the “senior community” status. This property was developed in 1970, so is actually a little older than the Commons.
Pueblo de Los Gatos consists of 53 units. Of these 53 condo units, 1 of them is a 3 bedroom (unit # 1, which also has a large 2 car garage), 44 are 2 bedroom units, and 8 are 1 bedroom units. Except for unit # 1, the rest of the homes in this community have carports. For many home buyers, these properties offer a more affordable way to get into the Los Gatos Union School District than might otherwise be possible.
Bella Vista Village
Next to and behind Pueblo de Los Gatos is the much newer and more expensive Bella Vista Village, which was built in 1997 and 1998 and includes 47 townhomes. Click on the link to see some photos and learn about it!
Las Casitas
Additionally, there is a small townhouse complex built in 1979 with 18 units on the same side of the street as the Los Gatos Commons, Las Casitas, located at 435 Alberto Way. Something unusual is that all of them appear to have the same floor plan – all have 1448 square feet. It is a tidy complex built around a central grassy courtyard area. Each home has a small back patio & storage closet outside, a laundry closet in the kitchen, 3 skylights for the 2nd floor, good sized bedrooms and baths, and pleasant grounds. There are carports and uncovered parking at the back of the property, up against the freeway. Click on the link above to see a half dozen photos of this attractive complex and learn more about it.
What is the fastest way to tell them apart? The easiest way, without even clicking on a link, is to spot the address. If there’s a letter as part of the unit number (as in A100 or B202), it’s part of The Commons. Also, if the price looks low for the area – it’s probably the Commons. If there’s no letter, as in #7, it’s part of one of the other communities. Or just check the map – The Commons is tucked back at the far left side of the cul de sac (beyond it are office buildings with a private driveway).
All of these are in close-to-downtown Los Gatos locations. If you’re in the market for Los Gatos real estate and would like to live close in, this is a great street to check out.
All Alberto Way area homes for sale, pending, or sold over the last year – including The Commons
This includes properties on Alberto Way as well as Maggi Court and the other Bella Vista Village homes.
- List View
- Map View
- Grid View
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Sold
$560,000
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Lot Size
-
Home Size
768 sqft
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Beds
1 Bed
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Baths
1 Bath
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Year Built
1978
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-
$565,000
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Lot Size
1,865 sqft
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Home Size
768 sqft
-
Beds
1 Bed
-
Baths
1 Bath
-
Year Built
1978
-
-
Sold
$565,000
-
Lot Size
-
Home Size
768 sqft
-
Beds
1 Bed
-
Baths
1 Bath
-
Year Built
1978
-
-
Sold
$623,100
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Lot Size
-
Home Size
1,136 sqft
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Beds
2 Beds
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Baths
2 Baths
-
Year Built
1978
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-
Sold
$669,000
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Lot Size
-
Home Size
1,136 sqft
-
Beds
2 Beds
-
Baths
2 Baths
-
Year Built
1978
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See all Alberto Way.
(all data current as of
9/25/2023)
Listing information deemed reliable but not guaranteed. Read full disclaimer.
by Mary Pope-Handy | Nov 8, 2020 | Homes & Housing Market, Los Gatos Real Estate
Los Gatos condo sales are good to watch as it provides info on the most affordable segment of the local real estate market. The condo / townhome market in Los Gatos includes a broad spectrum of housing and affordability across the 95030 and 95032 zip codes and its various school districts.
Included are senior condominiums (mostly but not exclusively at the Los Gatos Commons), which are usually the lowest priced homes and which are residences with age restrictions (mostly 55+). This can skew the data a little, so remember that if it looks too good to be true, it probably is (for all the non-seniors who would love the prices at the Commons in a non seniors complex).
Also incorporated in the chart below are townhouses. A townhouse is an architectural style, not a type of ownership. A townhouse really refers to properties with no other units above or below them. They are either in condo style ownership (essentially a condominium in the shape of a townhouse) or they are planned unit developments (PUDs), which are not condos and in which the ownership includes the land under the unit. (See also: Is that Los Gatos house or townhouse actually a condo? on this blog.)
Chart of Los Gatos condo sales in 2020
Below please find data on the Los Gatos 95030 and 95032 condominium and townhome sales.
How do these condo and townhome prices compare to other nearby areas? Here’s the most recent data from my RE Report (link is to the main site, the PDF with this chart is listed in left column).
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by Mary Pope-Handy | Apr 30, 2019 | Home buyer tip, Land Use, Los Gatos Real Estate
When scouring the MLS for properties to view, Los Gatos home buyers would be wise to pay attention to the property class and land use data. A few years back, I discussed a little on this topic with this article: Is that Los Gatos house or townhouse actually a condo? Today I want to focus on the MLS information that Los Gatos home buyers are viewing online, and what to look for to understand these issues better. I’ve taken screen shots from the MLS, so what you see will appear differently on other portals, but the info should be present somewhere on the page if it shows up in our local MLS.
Getting the best info on class and land use data means getting it from a local MLS
First, our MLS, MLSListings.com, cooperates with other MLS organizations around the state. Often, though, when info comes into our system from an outside one, some info is dropped. That can be very frustrating. The most obvious one is the days on market or DOM – it is blank when it’s an out of area MLS entry. Today I was looking for examples of property class, meaning what kind of structure is it, and the land use to share here when I found this one, below:
Normally you will find info on the “class” which means the building type, such as a single family home (if detached, a house, if attached, a duet home), a townhouse, a condominium, a duplex / triplex / fourplex, etc. Also there should be land use – is it a condo, a PUD, or a single family home? (With condos and townhomes, there’s also a line for “ownership type.)
In the photo above, “Land use” is blank. Not helpful for a home buyer! This one was from a non-MLSListings.com entry. When that happens, you may want to make note of the info you could not find so you remember to chase it down later.
Most, however, will include the land use information, such as the next one:
Many of the townhouses in Los Gatos and nearby are held in condo ownership. That means you do not own the land under the unit, even though it is a townhouse. The owner of this kind of property owns the interior space between the walls and the floor and the ceiling. The Home Owner’s Association (HOA) has responsibility for the exterior of the structure, the roof, etc. The attic may or may not be community property. In some cases, there is a shared, open attic over all the units. In those cases, only one unit will have an opening to get into the attic.
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by Mary Pope-Handy | May 4, 2010 | Homes & Housing Market
May 04, 2010
The spring home buying season (or spring home selling season) is usually pretty good in Los Gatos, with April being one of the best months. How was this year? And how was it in relation to recent years in the 95030 and 95032 zip codes of Los Gatos?
I ran the numbers myself – so every effort was made for accuracy but it’s not guaranteed – and also ran them in recent years dating back to 1998. Additionally I provided the “average” so see how this year actually compares.
For April 2010, there were a total of 40 houses, duet homes, condominiums and townhouses which closed escrow between April 1 and April 30, about 7% off the 13 year average of 43. The breakdown was 31 houses or duet homes (close to average) and 9 condos or townhomes (30% fewer than average). So this view shows that it’s a mixed real estate market with trend improving for houses for sale more than condominiums.
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A look at last year shows a lot of improvement for houses sold. And a look at the year before that, 2008, also shows marked improvement for houses on the market in Los Gatos. Not so true for the condominium and townhouse sales, though. Those sales continue to lag. The condo market has been hurting throughout Silicon Valley because home buyers can now afford to buy a house and that’s their preference, most of the time.
To see how Santa Clara County did as a whole, please visit my Valley of Hearts Delight blog.
For help in buying or selling your Los Gatos home, please contact me today:
Mary Pope-Handy 408 204-7673 or mary (at) popehandy.com
by Mary Pope-Handy | Oct 22, 2009 | Homes & Housing Market
October 22, 2009
The post below was written in Oct 2009. For a more current article and market update, please see:Absorption Rates for Los Gatos & Monte Sereno Real Estate Market in May 2010
If you are thinking of buying or selling a Los Gatos condo or townhouse, it’s helpful to know what the market’s doing – that is, what are the Los Gatos real estate trends and statistics for the condo market.
Today we’ll have a look at the Los Gatos condo market in terms of pricing, inventory, and days on market. We will study Los Gatos as a whole and broken out by zip code, and also by price quartile too. The data below is via Altos Research, to which I am a subscriber & so I have the right to use the charts & graphs here. (Note: Altos Research uses list prices, not sold prices.) The charts I’m uploading will automatically update, so if you pull up this post long after it’s been written, the charts will still be “live” and should be accurate.
First, the pricing trends for condos and townhomes in 95030 and 95032 combined (so all of Los Gatos together) over the last year, and separated by quartile:
Generally, it’s been a year of some increases but overall decreases in list prices year over year (as of late October 2009).
Following, the two zip codes separated, but the quartiles combined:
Interestingly, the 95030 part of Los Gatos was dropping this time last year (10-2008) while the 95032 market was mostly improving. I suspect that this is due to the cost of living: 95032 is simply less expensive.
Getting more specific: now see Los Gatos 95030 condos and townhomes, broken out by price quartile:
Fascinating to see what happened with the group that had been the second quartile and ended up at the bottom! The deepest decines in value (or pricing) have come in the highest price ranges. This is true in Saratoga and other high-end markets around Silicon Valley and in parts of San Jose (such as Almaden Valley) too.
Same pricing info but for Los Gatos 95032:
The 95032 patterns seemed to follow a more understandable path than 95030.
Next, inventory – the available townhouses and condominiums to buy in Los Gatos (both zips combined)over the last 12 months: 
Inventory for 95030:
And inventory for 95032:
Now, we’ll look at the average Days on Market. Things are really interesting here as we view all of Los Gatos by quartile.:
And again, we’ll drill down to the zip code & quartile view of the Los Gatos condo and townhome market as we consider the average days on market:
In the 95030 part of Los Gatos, interestingly, the least expensive condos are taking the longest to sell. Why might that be the case? Here’s my hunch: most of this zip code is “in the schools” (enjoying Blossom Hill Elementary, Van Meter Elementry, or Daves Avenue School as well as Fisher Middle School and Los Gatos High). The least expensive homes often fall into one of two categories: seniors housing (Alberto Way, the Los Gatos Commons) or small, entry level condos with only one bedroom. Neither of these would require the highly regarded Los Gatos Schools.
Conversely, in the 95032 part of town, it’s the most expensive townhomes and condos that are taking the longest to sell. A possible reason is that people who can afford a high end condo can also afford a single family home – and right now, the houses have come down so much in price that they are not as out of reach as they were in the past. Most likely, homebuyers are preferring to buy a house (perhaps in Cambrian Park or Willow Glen) rather than a costly condo.
Even more data:
I just ran a little more info off of MLSListings.com, our MLS provider here in the San Jose area, and see that in Los Gatos (both zip codes) 26 condos and townhomes sold & closed in the last month, and there are 132 available today. That means there are 5 months of inventory, which is just a little into the seller’s market territory.
95030 – 51 available, 6 sold in last month = 8.5 months of inventory – av sales price = $1,301,667
95032 – 81 available, 20 sold in last month = 4.05 months of inventory – av sales pr = $1,068,360
Very very interesting that it’s approximately twice as easy to sell a condo in 95032 than in 95030. In most of Santa Clara County, the most affordable homes are the ones selling the best. That general trend appears to be in full swing here in Los Gatos among the townhouse and condo market too.
If you’d like to sell or buy a Los Gatos condo or townhouse, please contact me. I’d be happy to have a confidential, no obligation conversation with you about your wants, needs and plans.
Although it can be a bit of a challenge to sell a condominium or townhome in Los Gatos, it’s not impossible if the pricing, staging, and marketing are all correct.
