April 07, 2010
The local Los Gatos real estate market is very strange, with some pockets of hot but mostly a very cold market generally.
One way of getting a pulse on the market is to see what is selling. In the last two weeks in Los Gatos (zip codes 95030 and 95032), 29 properties have gone under contract. Of those, 24 were single family homes or duet homes (not condos or townhomes). Four were short sales (2 short sale houses, 2 short sale condos or townhouses) and the rest were “regular sales”. Ten were in the Campbell Union High School District and the rest were “in the schools”.
The average house which sold in the last two weeks was about 2300 SF, on about 1/3 of an acre, with the Los Gatos School District and listed at about $1,350,000. But there was variation, from homes priced under $600,000 to those listed at almost $2,500,000.
Of houses closed in the last two weeks, the average square footage was about 2600, average sales price appx $1,475,000 and the average lot size still about 1/3 of an acre. Most homes sold for less than the list price.
Homes priced aggressively (that is, low) are selling fast but most homes are not moving. The quickest segment of the real estate market in Santa Clara County is the entry level single family home market, priced between about $400,000 and $650,000. Homes higher than this amount are having a much more challenging time of selling. Hence Los Gatos is mostly a very solid buyer’s market at this time.
