Dec 2018 ended with 297 units available for sale.
1446 Millich Dr, which in in the Merrivale West complex, went under contract on 1/11/19 after 36 days active. They have a projected Close of Escrow date for late Feb, dependent on the probate courts approval. They received one offer only. The property was in fairly original condition and limited upgrades.
Just down the street on Millich Dr. in the 95008 zip there were several properties available throughout Nov, Dec and Jan. Currently 1 is pending, 2 are still active and 1 has been withdrawn from the Multiple Listing Service.
615 Millich Dr has been active for 139 days they have taken one price reduction to $899,000. 628 Millich #A has been active for 62 days at a list price of $839,900.
732 Millich Dr #A did go under contract on 1/29/19, after 19 days on the market with a list price of $825,000. They had been on the market back in Oct/November and had withdrawn the property at the end of November. They did some upgrades and brought it back at a new price of $825,000. The ppgrades included electrical, plumbing and the promise that termite work would be completed.
640 Millich Dr #B was on the market for 76 days and one price reduction they withdrew it from Active status on 1/17/19. Their last list price was $859,000 and they had started out at a list price of $899,000.
All these properties tell a story of the current market; much longer days on the market then what we have experience in the past several years, price reductions, and seller having to reset some of their expectations for the current market. Meanwhile Buyers feel empowered to hold off on making offers as quickly as they had in the past several years and are well aware they can negotiate and expect the prices to line up with condition.
It will be interesting to see what February brings; we do hear that we should expect a significant number of new listings to hit the market throughout the month.
12/4/2018
1396 Pinehurst Sq went under contract last week on 11/27. They are expected to close escrow in early Jan 2019. They had been on the active market for 26 days, which may sound like a significant amount of time,but in reality their Days On Market was actually less then the average for all Pending condo/townhouses in the Campbell zone. Average Days on Market for the 15 pending sales is currently 33 days.
Inventory levels as we move into December have declined from November and October but are an increase over December 2017 levels. In fact we have to go back to 2012 to see more inventory then we currently have for Condo’s and Townhomes in Santa Clara county. Same for Single Family Homes.
Typically December is a slow month for listings, as most Sellers will hold off until the new year to place their homes on the market. We might see some clearing out of properties that have been active on the market and not experiencing much activity/interest- buyers and their agents can negotiate assertively and without much competition. I always like working with Buyers in December. It often feels like you are the only people out looking, as everyone else’s attention is on holiday activities. Most Realtors who have been in the business more then a few years have stories about writing offers and getting them accepted the last few weeks of the year- or even Christmas Eve or Day! If you are a buyer who has been looking for awhile you should be open to a few visits to homes in December, you might just find the perfect home and at a lower price then other months of the years
11/28/2018
Update
732 Millich Dr #A was withdrawn from the MLS yesterday.
11/27/2018
Sluggish activity in the condo/townhouse market area surrounding the complex
5 active properties in the immediate area surrounding Merrivale West and they aren’t moving through the selling process quickly.
503 Latimer Circle active 35 days
615 Millich Ct active 74 days
1396 Pinehurst Ct active 26 days
640 Millich Dr #3 active 25 days
732 Millich Dr #A active 31 days
Pinehurst is the only property that attends Moreland elementary schools – the bal all attend Campbell Unified elementary schools
11/8/2018
9 active listings in 95117- townhouse/condo’s
No sooner then a day after I had posted my last update did a new listing show up in the complex – 1396 Pinehurst Sq. An interior 1296 sq foot unit with 2 beds and 2.5 baths and 1 car garage listed for $950K.
Currently there is a great deal of competition for the buyers that are out looking in 95117. 9 active listings, 7 of which attend Moreland schools. List prices range from $950K for 1396 Pinehurst Sq to $450K for 3588 Payne Ave #11 a 910 sq foot 2 bedroom and 1 bath unit in Stonegate Villa’s complex.
The properties that went pending in the Campbell real estate zone in the past 15 days took an average of 28 days to find their buyer(s). Townhouses, tend to sell much quicker then condo’s, which had an average of 17 days on the market.
Watch the days on market for 1396 Pinehurst Sq – this will be a good test for the market. Their list price is apprx $50K less then the past 2 listings. One of which sold quickly in 13 days, 1435 Golden Meadow Sq. The other, 1468 Golden Meadow Sq, which couldn’t find a buyer and went off the market (cancelled) after 33 days. Both of those properties had recently well done updated interiors and 2 car garages.
10/29/2018
No activity for resale in the complex currently; but in the surrounding area there are several new listings and one that has been on the market for a month and half.
732 Millich Dr #A is listed at $849,000 for a 1018 Sq foot unit, 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. They have a $312 monthly HOA and attend Campbell schools. They came on the market 2 days ago.
1375 Phelps Ave #11 is listed for $610,000 with 840 Sq feet, 2 bedrooms and 1 bathroom. This property attends Moreland schools (a plus to many buyers) but they do have some Rental Restrictions. They have been active for 10 days.
615 Millich Lane has been on the market for 45 days at $969,000. 3 bedrooms and 2 and 1/2 bathrooms in 1,245 Sq feet. They have a $368 HOA and attend Campbell Schools.
I have noticed a significant number of rentals being offered on Zillow within the complex. At one point 3 weeks ago there were 4 properties listed. Today there is one listed in Charmwood Sq.
Zillow has become the go to place for posting rentals. CraigsList is still used but on a much lesser degree, I’ve found the site is ripe for unscrupulous people scamming your ads. Most renters tend to mostly use Zillow, which updates all their fellow companies- Trulia, Postlets, HotPads with the rental information.
Will sellers be waiting out the next few months? My guess is yes. The last few weeks the inventory levels overall have leveled out- we see about 1450 Single family units and townhouses/condo’s inventory level remain close to 600 units * Santa Clara county. BUT if you are a buyer and have been exhausted by the market in the past year or so- this would be a perfect time to be out looking… more inventory, fewer people to compete against (and in some cases no one else to compete against) and the ability to make a decision without being rushed.
The average days on market for single family homes that closed escrow in the past 0-14 days was 25 days, condos/townhouses were on the market for an average of 21 days. That is very different from the 7-12 day averages we experienced in the last year and half.
10/17/2018
Cancelled listings
1468 Golden Meadow Sq has been cancelled on the MLS as of 10/16.
This is the 2nd listing at Merrivale West in the past 2 months that has been cancelled. 1436 Millich Lane was cancelled on 8/30/18.
All signs point to a changing market. The exuberance we had in the market earlier this year has dissipated and we are seeing buyer’s have a much different approach when making considering IF they want to make an offer and at what price.
As I stated in my post yesterday strategies for selling a home in this current market need to be different then the past year’s approach. Realtor’s challenge is to help sellers have realistic expectations.
10/16/2018
33 days on the market, a $200K price reduction taken 19 days ago….
1468 Golden Meadow Sq is an updated and remodeled property- gas cooktop, hardwood floors, updated kitchen and bathrooms, skylights, 2 car garage, staged and well presented. So why is it still not under contract?
In a changing market, which we are in the midst of for the past 5 months, initial list price is critical. The strategies that worked last spring regarding list price aren’t in play.
Initial list price is critical.
Studies show that if the initial asking price is:
15% over market value you will appeal to ONLY 20% of Buyers
10% over market value you will appeal to ONLY 30% of Buyers
5% over market value you will appeal to ONLY 50% of Buyers
Current Market value you will appeal to 95% of Buyers
So the question then becomes – how do you know you have initial list price correct? Market knowledge. Experience. Research.
We are no longer in a Real Estate market where there are high number of buyers out looking, most agents will report that Open House traffic and overall interest is much lighter. Some of that is seasonal, some is “buyer fatigue” and increasing interest rates. But no need to panic- homes continue to sell and many continue to receive over asking offers. The initial list price will either make or break the interest levels- important to choose those numbers wisely.
9/30/2018
1468 Golden Meadow Sq made a bold move yesterday- a price reduction of $200K. The listing agent had an offer date listed as “Thursday” (which one I’m not certain) but 2 Thurs have passed and the property was still active.
The price reduction from $998,000 to $799,000 is dramatic and will attract attention. But will the seller’s be able to get the offer price up to the range in the high $900,000, or over $1M? 1431 Golden Meadow Sq used this strategy in mid May was successful with an list price of $729,000 and ended up with a final close of escrow price of $1,030,880.
This is a very different market and buyers will be very aware that for 17 days there were no offers at the list price. Hoping the strategy works for them
9/26/2018
Changing market
The current inventory levels reflect the changing market – as of this past Monday there were 607 condo’s and townhouses listed as ACTIVE in Santa Clara county. The last time we had numbers of ACTIVE properties in Santa Clara was in September of 2014.
Currently in the Campbell geographic area we have 24 ACTIVE listings. That’s double the numbers we had earlier spring. At the end of Jan 2018 there were only 6 units ACTIVE.
Days on market has increased to 16 days on average for the condo/townhouses that closed in the past 30 day (24 units total) The positive news is that of those 24 units the seller’s averaged a 6% increase over their list price. The interest levels are still intact as properties continue to go under contract and receive above list offers.
1468 Golden Meadow is currently ACTIVE – this property shows well with a new kitchen and baths, plus paint and flooring. It has been on the market for 13 days at a list price of $998,000.
Just outside the complex at 615 Millich Dr, located in the Hamilton East complex, is also ACTIVE. They are listed for $969,000 for a larger unit with 1,242 Sq Ft and 3 beds/2.5 baths. Note that this property is assigned Campbell schools. They have been ACTIVE for 12 days.
9/3/2018
1436 Millich Lane was “cancelled” on 8/30/2018. There is no indication if the property will come back on the market at another time. My guess is that they did not receive the interest they had anticipated- the market has changed. August was a challenging market for sellers- less traffic from buyers and agents, and less interest overall. Inventory levels had climbed during July and early August, back to 2016 levels, we continued to see longer days on market overall. Sellers had to be patient and agents had to set realistic expectations. The knowledge of the local market is critical- because its no longer a put a listing on the market and take offers 7-9 days later. Average days on market for condo/townhomes in Santa Clara county that are under contract is currently 25 days, and in the Campbell real estate zone it is 15.
A new listing on Golden West Sq has set an list price of $998,888- which is the highest list price we’ve seen so far. The listing agent has posted an offer date of 9/10 – a bold move in the current market. Most listing agents are not posting offer dates and instead asking buyers agents to contact them directly for offer dates and instructions. That way they can gauge the interest level and make decisions if they have enough interest to have an offer date or take offers as they come; there is generally no clearer way to gauge interest then to engage the buyers agents in a conversation.
Golden Meadow has a new kitchen, baths and is attractive on line (photo’s) so they may gather up buyers.
8/26/18
1458 Woodgrove Sq PENDING after 30 days ACTIVE
The complex has not had a property ACTIVE for this many days since August and Sept of 2016, 1405 Millich Lane took 57 days. The floor plan of 1458 Woodgrove is one of the more spacious floor plans with a larger living area that included a den, plus it was a end unit.
8/17/18
New Merrivale West Listing and current market updates regarding price reductions
1436 Millich Lane came on the market yesterday – currently you can find the listing on Redfin, but not our local MLS as the listing agent has it listed on a east bay MLS. It probably will migrate over at some point in the next day or two? This was the same situation with 1317 Merrivale West Sq earlier this year and it took them 24 days on market before they found a buyer (property had an offer early on and they “fell out of contract” then had to go back on the market and resell it) see my blog post from 3/16/18.
Check out the SJ Merc News front page article this am:
What is important to keep in mind Zillow is using “sold” numbers from June. July sales had more price reductions taken as the market slowed through the late summer months. AND they did not break out the single family category from the condo/townhouse category. The most current numbers are from closed sales in the last 30 days in the Campbell/West San Jose area:
- Single Family homes closed sales 44 units – 8 had taken a price reduction. 18%
- Townhouse/condo closes sales 16 units- 1 property had taken a price reduction. 6%
- Pending sales in the condo/townhouse properties (properties that have accepted an offer and are moving through the escrow process)
- 28 units and 4 had taken a price reduction. 14% The Days on Market (when they were looking for a buyer prior to accepting an offer) was 19 days.
These numbers are the most current indicator of the market in our local area. The article did state that increases are still expected for the Bay area at a slower rate.
My take away for Sellers:
- Expect long days on market
- List price is VERY important – dynamic pricing that has worked in the past,list low and strive to receive Multiple offers, is not in play in all the local area markets. * it does still appear to work in some aggressive markets and with very desirable homes that are located centrally,updated, marketed well. Having a local agent who has area knowledge is critical. Real Estate, after all is Local, each market can be different.
- Expect few multiple offers and expect to negotiate. Buyers have different expectations and they are hyper aware of the market changes.
All that said- homes are continuing to sell and Sellers are still experience strong results if they have the above in play.
8/10/18
1458 Woodgrove Sq price reduction taken
Day 14 the list price was reduced by $20K on 1458 Woodgrove Sq.
The first 2 weeks of an Active listing are big indicators of how buyers are reacting to your property price and condition. That is the time period that the most buyers will be actively looking at your property on line and visiting in person. We’ve been in a market for the past several years that rarely have properties remained on the market for over 15 days, unless the seller and agent wanted to expose the property for a longer period of time (and that does happen), longer then a 2 week period.
At Merrivale West there have been only 2 properties in the 2017 and 2018 time period that had longer days on market then 15 days; 4/28/17 1455 Golden Meadow Sq was active for 21 days, 3/23/18 1317 Merrivale West Sq was on the market for 24 days .
At 1455 Golden Meadow Sq the listing agent was a limited broker, meaning they listed the property and most of the marketing and showing would be the sellers responsibility. Frequently the negotiations will also be the sellers responsibility. The property sold for the list price. A rarity during this time period of escalating values.
1317 Merrivale West Sq was on the market for 24 days. This property had found a seller early in the listing period, but the buyers had backed out of the transaction and the seller was forced to place the market back on the market, thus losing the initial momentum. Although they did end up closing over the list price. The listing agent was an out of area agent and the property wasn’t listed initially on our local Multiple Listing service.
Condo’s and Townhouse are still a valuable commodity in our area – as of today there are 19 active units, 25 pendings, and 16 units close escrow in the past 30 days. Of the 16 closed sales they had an average of 14 days on the market as Active before they went under contract AND they closed at an average of 5.5% above the list price.
It’s still good to be a seller.
7/30/18
718 Millich Dr #a Closed and visit to 1458 Woodgrove Sq
718 Millich Dr #A posted close last week- after being on an off the market since 4/19/18. They had been under contract with 2 different buyers (the transaction fell through) prior to them them finding the right buyer in mid June and that buyer progressed through close of escrow. Having buyers change their mind and exiting the contract after acceptance is not uncommon in our current market, but very frustrating for sellers and agents.
The challenges that this presents is that a seller had accepted an offer and the property was listed as “pending or contingent” on the multiple listing services. After a buyer changes their mind(s) the seller and agent have to relist the property and try to regroup and round up buyers interest for a second time. The momentum has stopped and the agent must try to recreate interest levels. The “Days on Market” clock continues from the beginning of the listing- so the properties “newness” is viewed by the buyers as an extended period of time. Agents will work very hard to contact the buyers who had been interested or written offers prior to the property going pending, but frequently those buyers have moved on.
There can be many reasons for a buyer to exit the contract- if the property had contingencies in place they have a contractual right to exercise this option. As a listing agent, David and I, try to make certain our sellers have as much information about the buyers and their agents as possible prior to accepting an offer. We believe this helps them make good decisions in their choice of who they enter into contract with.
We speak with loan agents, have the disclosures and inspections acknowledged by the buyer(s) and their agent upfront. We ask the buyer(s) agent how many contracts have they presented with this buyer(s) and if they have every chosen to exit a contract (if you don’t ask you’ll never know, you’d be amazed at what agents/loan offices will tell you when you ask….) and even with doing all that TFT’s, transaction fell through, can still happen.
Sometimes it can be as simple as a buyer(s) waking up the following day and feeling too nervous about their offer that they exit immediately. We always pick up the phone the day after acceptance and speak with the agent to find out if the buyer(s) are still engaged and excited.
I visited 1458 Woodgrove over the weekend- kitchen has new cabinets and counter tops as does both bathrooms. New flooring and carpets were recently installed. The agent did say the traffic was alittle slow, which is not unusual for a mid summer listing. Other Open Houses in the area that both David and I visited we did notice this was the norm- and we both visited a combination of 10+ open houses between Sat and Sun
7/26/18
New listing in Merrivale West
just listed today is a 1458 Woodgrove Sq, a 1152 sq foot unit with 2 bed and 2 baths at a list price of $968,000.
This is the highest list price for a Merrivale West property so far. The agent has listed an offer date for next week. Considering our current market conditions this will be a good property to watch and see how strong the market remains for Merrivale West properties.
7/24/18
Shifting market numbers and insight
It’s been over a month since I posted – partially because we’ve been on vacation for the past several weeks.
What we are experiencing is a building of inventory and an increase of days on market for active properties, and some price reductions taken by sellers. Currently Santa Clara has approx. 1700 active properties – as of Monday 7/23 there were 1275 single family homes for sale and 416 condo/townhouses.
In the Campbell geographic area there are 63 single family homes and 18 condo/townhouses. is another sign that the market has shifted in that we have less Pending sales then we have active for single family – 40 pending sales total. Why is this a sign ? For the past several years our pending sales and actives were generally very similar numbers, that was because the turn was swift- most of the new inventory was sold very quickly, within 7-10 days on average, and that kept the ACTIVE #’s low as there was no build in the numbers.
The current Average Days on Market is 25 days for Single Family homes. Of the 63 active homes 13 of them have taken a price reduction, 20 %. Pending sales the Average Days on Market is 29 days.
Condo’s and Townhouses are a little different; this has to do with the price point. Of the 18 Active properties there is only one price reduction. Average days on market for the Condo category is 15 and for Town homes (generally a higher price point) it is 25 days. The Average days on market for Condo/townhouses (attached multi unit homes) is 19 days. Pending sales, of which there are 19 currently, have an Average days on market of 19 days. There are only 3 properties that took a price reduction, 15.7%.
As a buyer this allows more leverage and choices. As a seller you need to be aware that what took place in the spring- multiple offers and large overbids on the list price are not generally occurring. Pricing correctly and having a realistic view of the current market is important. Keep in mind our market is still a sellers market – low inventory continues even with the active property inventory numbers building in the recent past weeks.
The most recent closed sales tell a story that it is still a Sellers market. Single Family homes that closed escrow in the past 14 days received an average of 5.6% over list price. Townhouses received an average of 5.8% over list price. Condo’s, again the lower price point generally had an average of 7.9% over the list price. The sky has not fallen.
6/22/18
Price decreases taken this week
We ran the numbers today- in Santa Clara county there are approx 1000 ACTIVE listings for single family homes (the number goes up and down depending on new listings and properties going under contract) the average all week has been around 1000- 82 homes have taken a “price decrease” in the past 7 days. That is apprx 8% of the active listings. Of those 82 units 6 price reductions were taken in the Campbell/West San Jose area.
Condo/Townhomes are approx 300 units this week that are ACTIVE and of those units 23 took price reductions in the past 0-7 days. None of the Condo/Townhomes in Campbell/West San Jose took a price reduction. This market remains strong as we only have 15 ACTIVE properties and that is fairly steady number we’ve seen in the past months 12-14 units active on any given week.
6/20/18
Dynamic pricing pays off….
1434 Millich Lane, our listing, closed last week at $1,060,000 and 1431 Golden Meadow closed at $1,030,880
Here’s the interesting part – 1431 Golden Meadow Sq was in original condition, except for new carpet in upper level and some paint. It is a 1056 sq ft unit. This is a great example of “dynamic pricing” the list price was $739,000. ALL the other listings in the complex this year (3) have had a list price of $899,000. The new Buyer of 1431 Golden Meadow jumped in and made an very aggressive offer. A few units away 1448 Golden Meadow Sq, a much larger unit with 1296 sq ft and 2.5 bathrooms only closed at $1,000,000 – and there had been some upgrades made- counter tops, flooring, paint, bathrooms. Bottom line the list price attracted alot of attention and it paid off for the seller of 1431 Golden Meadow.
“Shift” in the market
This AM we had 60 active single family units in the the Campbell/West San Jose area (later this afternoon that number shifted back to 58 units as a couple properties went pending) It has been awhile since we hit 60. We are also seeing some price adjustments as properties are remaining on the market longer.
We have 55 pending units and have had 66 closed sales, in single family units, in the past 30 days. Of those 66 units the average days on market has grown to 14 days (average) with a median sales price of $1,600,000.
I also ran the numbers for closed sales in the last 14 days and the days on market was the same, 14 days, but the median sales price was $1,509,000
Regarding Townhouse/Condo’s we have 14 units – which is just slightly higher then the past few months. We aren’t seeing inventory increasing because these units are turned rapidly and they are the entry level buyers market, in most cases.
Closed sales units were 36 for the past 30 days and a median sales price of $1,014,000. The closed sales in the past 14 days, 14 units, actually went up to $1,045,000 median sales price.
We personally have seen the number of multiples offers decrease – in mid April we had 359 W Rincon Ave #c in Campbell receive 12 offers. The last 4 listing in Campbell/West San Jose market we had go under contract in May received on the average of 1-3 offers- dramatic decrease overall. The interesting part is they all went significantly over list price and went under contract in less then 10 days.
Its a definate “shift” and it will be interesting to see what the rest of summer brings in terms of inventory levels and what buyers are willing to offer as the interest rates have increased and they have a few more choices.
6/6/18
1448 Golden Meadow Sq is till showing PENDING on all the Real Estate sites- however the county records were changed today to reflex the closed sale price. $1,000,000. The sale actually closed escrow on 5/24/18.
The multiple listing service has rules about reporting status changes for closed sales and they should occur within in 24 hours of the sale being closed through escrow. This sale was closed 13 days ago.
6/5/18
Listings UPDATE
We had a short “flurry” of listings in the complex at the end of April and early May- 3 total and as of today all 3 are still “pending”
1448 Golden Meadow Sq was listed on 4/25 for $899,000 and went under contract on 5/2/2018, 8 days on market, which has been a fairly average amount of days as “ACTIVE” for several years. The listing agent has a Close of Escrow date listed as 5/28 (come and gone….) The listing agent had told us that she received multiple offers and was closing under $1M
1431 Golden Meadow Sq was listed on 5/9/2018 for $729,000 and went under contract on 5/17/2018 8 dayson market. The Close of Escrow date is listed as 6/6. This was a fairly original unit and had some recent paint and carpet in the upper level.
1434 Millich Lane, our listing, was listed on 5/4 for $899,000 and it is the largest Sq foot unit in the complex at 1368 Sq. This property went under contract on 5/11/2018, 7 days on market. This property has one of the best locations in the complex, in my opinion, an end unit with private entry facing green space. We had less traffic then we’ve had during prior Open Houses. This property is closing 5/12. It will be closing well into the $1M+ range.
Inventory Levels
I’ve been writing and talking about our low inventory levels for what seems like years. Week after week we’ve experienced a decline in the number of units available. Even during periods where there were what we considered a fair amount of new ACTIVE properties they quickly were gobbled up and the following week the ACTIVE numbers would shrink.
Recently that trend has shifted – as of 6/5 we had 90+ units of single family homes available over the prior weeks numbers in Santa Clara County. A total of 1029 units available.
A smaller amount of increase was seen in the condo/townhouse market, there were +20 units. For a total of 300 units ACTIVE.
We had seen numbers as low as 431 Single family homes ACTIVE at the end of Jan 2018 (an all time low number) and 99 units of condo’s/townhouses for same period.
The general feeling in the Real Estate community is that some of this increase is seasonal (late spring/early summer) we’ve generally see an increase in inventory levels, except in 2017 when the inventory levels decreased during this period. There are also concerns about the “affordability factor” and that means less buyers can participate as our prices have increased year after year.
Buyers who are feeling “pushed” and not willing to make quick offers because they fear losing out in multiple offer situations. They are approaching the purchase of a home differently- and much more critically, then what I have experienced in the past 2 years. In all our listings in the past 45 days, which is 6 in total and one new one this week, the number of multiple offers have decreased from prior listings. The caveat is that while the number of offers has decreased there are still offers that are significantly over the list price.
I think we’ll see the real outcome of this in the next several weeks –
5/4/18
Our newest listing is ACTIVE- 1434 Millich Lane which is the largest floor plan in the complex at 1,368 sq with 2 bedrooms AND a sitting room (easily convertible into a 3rd bedroom) and 2.5 baths.
This property has extra parking- the garage plus long driveway which can part 2 cars. New AC in 2017 and new Copper Plumbing in 12/16. The other lovely feature is that it is a end unit and has a private entrance.
Come visit us at Open House on Sat 1:30-4:30, and Sun 1:00- 4:00 PLUS next WED AM on Broker Tour/Open House
1448 Golden Meadow had listed an offer date of 5/2 and they are still active.
4/28/18
We just signed a listing agreement on a 1368 sq unit this afternoon. It is an end unit with a private entry- we’ll be on the market this week. Stay tuned for more details!
I visited the newest listing at Golden Meadow- which has some nice updates, counter tops, and some original aspects (cabinets) this is the 2nd largest floor plan.
4/13/18
317 Merrivale West Sq posted as Closed – with a final sale price of $1,055,000. This property was ACTIVE for 24 days- much longer then the area average of 8-9 days.
The listing agent for the Merrivale West property was an out of area, East Bay agent and initially the property was not listed on our local MLS, after several days the agent was able to figure out how to have the property appear on on local MLS. But unfortunately she had added some characters to the address and didn’t show up in a regular search for properties (on our MLS) As I wrote about in my 3/16 blog post the property had gone under contract originally on 3/7 and then came back on the market after 9 days into the escrow process and the agent/sellers had to find a new buyer which took till 3/23.
This was the 1056 foot floor plan , 2 bed /2 bath, listed at $899000 on 2/28/18, close date was 4/11/18. The sale price is not surprising- this is similar to other closed sales in the Campbell area. Prices have continued to increase as the demand for properties to purchase has outpaced the supply.
At our newest listing ,a townhouse in Campbell – 359 W Rincon Ave #c took offers this past Tues. 12 offers. The demand remains strong- IF the property is priced right and the marketing is in place.
There is an new sign up in front of 1448 Golden Meadow Sq – it doesn’t state “coming soon” but the assumption is that is the case. The brokerage listed on the sign is Soyla Real Estate – for fun google name. Appears it’s an E-agent, thus very limited info. – unless you want to leave your info. It appears this property had been a rental.
We are seeing basically 2 kinds of sellers right now; sellers deciding to sell their rental properties; they feel that it’s a good time to take the high sales prices and put their funds elsewhere, OR/AND sellers who are permanently leaving the area. Our last 3 listings have been sellers selling their long term rentals AND our next 2 listings which are single family homes. both coming on to the market early May, are a long term rental and the other is a seller moving out of state. We don’t see many sellers who are selling their homes to move up into a bigger/better home. It’s just too tough of a market for sellers to find a replacement home they can afford and purchase in a timely fashion. Many people are staying put- thus we have a very low amount of new inventory.
3/20/18
David and I have received recognition for our work in 2017 and have gained membership into Coldwell Banker’s International President Elite Team designation. We ranked #25 in the top 100 agents in Coldwell Banker Northern California. We are very grateful – none of this would have happened if it were not for all our wonderful clients who put their trust in us for their real estate needs in 2017.
We are SO proud to be a part of our great office here at Saratoga Coldwell Banker! A huge thank you to all that supported us in 2017 and helped make it happen: Shawn Carroll, Mary Lou Reyes, Lori Bleeth, Alice Plescia and our wonderful escrow officer Susan W and Yvette Lawson at Cornerstone Title. Their help was priceless.
3/16/18
1317 Merrivale West Sq is back on the market as “active” the buyer they had chosen to work with could not perform.
It an interesting turn of events- because generally the seller and agent would have received multiple offers and when a TFT occurs (transaction fell through) the sellers agent can move on to the next best offer and try to negotiate them into the terms and conditions of the 1st offer they had accepted. When you have buyers clamoring to purchase this is the be path.
Buyers do change their minds – in this market where buyers are required to make decisions about the purchase and terms in a rather short period overly exuberant offers do happen…. thus David and I feel it very important to really do a through assessment of the buyer, the lender, the buyers agent to make certain everyone is on the same page and we have all the important questions sussed out. Last year, out of the 30 sales transactions we handled only one time did a TFT happen and because we had a back up in place to take over for the buyers who changed their mind, the morning after the offer had been accepted, we were able to seamlessly put the 2nd buyer in place.
I’m not familiar with the details of this transaction -but I do know that a townhouse on Rincon Ave took offers last week and had 7. They ended up with an accepted offer over $250K above the list price. Pretty amazing.
On that note we do have a new listing coming to the market at 359 W Rincon Ave the first week in April – 1665 sq ft, 3 beds, 2.5 baths and totally updated. Contact us for details
3/8/18
1317 Merrivale West Sq has been updated to show Pending as of 3/7/18. No doubt there was a demand for the property, as there are about 6-8 townhouses and condo’s on the market in any given day. The property final did show up on our local MLS- took several days. In the local area there is a new listing at 623 Millich Drive, Campbell 95008 which is listed for $799,000 with 1,110 sq ft , 2 bedrooms and 2.5 bathrooms. This property is located in Hamilton East complex which was built in 1975. They have HOA dues of $368.
2/28/18
New Merrivale West active property 1317 Merrivale West Sq. However as of this PM the listing doesn’t show up on the local MLS only on an East Bay MLS (EBRD). They do state there will be Open Houses this weekend. I’d (hope) for the sellers sake they do find a way to have it listed on the local MLS. Real Estate searches are local in nature.
2/20/18
I hope you were able to read the terrific SJ Mercury News article in this mornings paper regarding Village Harvest.
We’ve been very active the past 5 years with our local neighborhood association, LynHaven Neighborhood Association, running our annual fruit harvest. I’ve been in partnership with Natalie Helig in planning and implementing the local event.
This year our date is Saturday, March 17th. If any one would like to volunteer we’d welcome the help. Please reach out to me at patricia.kelner@cbnorcal.com and I’ll provide details. Its an wonderful way to help provide food for Second Harvest from our local neighborhood fruit trees that would go to waste if not harvested. We need drivers, pickers, and sorters. We generally start at 8:30 ish and are mostly completed by 12:30ish.
Backyard harvest: Volunteers fill food banks with fresh, local fruit
2/14/2018
Happy Valentines Day! I hope you are spending it with people you love and enjoy.
In our local real estate world we’ve seen a little more inventory come on line – 18 single family homes for sale in Campbell area and 5 townhouses and condo’s. Almost all the inventory is fresh and new- the longest days on market for the area is 15 days as Active- the rest are 8 days or below. Our turn time is swift.
There are currently have no active listings in Merrivale West. At this time last year there had been 2 listings; 1383 Millich Lane and 1321 Charmwood Sq. In 2016 there has been no listings until early March. Going back to 2015 there was one listing in January and not another one until last March. Based on those trends we generally see more activity in late spring and then again later towards the end of the summer.
The trend towards total listings/sales in the complex has been to see fewer properties change ownership- but not by an significant amount, but still a trend that reflects the overall market.
2015 – 14 closes sales 2016 11 closed sales 2017 10 closed sales
Our “new normal” is for us to have very lower inventory levels and the general consensus is that we’ll see some ebbs and flows of inventory as we go through the year.
David and I have several new listings that will arrive on the market throughout mid to late spring – a true “fixer” single family home in Willow Glen with a larger lot (8000 sq ft) which will be active in Mid March. A townhouse in the downtown Campbell area that has 3 bedrooms and is 1650+ sq ft will arrive on the market in early April. Late May we will have a large single family home, again a larger lot, in 95128. If you are interested in more details give us a call so we can stay in touch as the time come closer.
2/6/2018
Check out this link to Market Report that addresses the condo/townhouse in the Merrivale West market report. If you find the information interesting I could have it emailed to you directly- it’s a great (and simple) way to track the local market
There are also great Area reports and we can tailor to your interest
reach out to me at patricia.kelner@cbnorcal.com
1/25/18
Good news – inventory growing!! 6 properties for sale in the Campbell real estate zone- prices range from $1,250,000 for a unit at Santa Row (yes, it is the Campbell zone) to $599K for a unit on Teatree Ct. In the Single Family units there are 13 for sales.
1/22/18
I wish I was writing about Real Estate ACTIVITY in our area- but atlas our inventory activity levels remain low. Just 1 active listings in the Campbell area (zips 95117 and 95008)
3550 Alden Way #4 listed at $598K and they came on the market today.
There is 1 property Pending in the local area- 462 Boxleaf Ct, 95117 for $545K. They had 712 Sq Ft and they were on the market for 8 days.
One Closed Sale in 2018 at 3179 Loma Verde Dr #4 that was listed at $699K and sold for $885K, with an average amount of days on market- 8.
Slow start to a year where we have many predictions about the local market – talk of the “google” effect spreading out from our downtown area, many new construction projects that will be coming on line (have you seen the plans for the “Winchester Corridor”? and what about all those units by the VTA station in downtown Campbell), prices up or a leveling?
As I am fond of saying my crystal ball isn’t working, but I do know we’ve been in a wait and see mode- but hoping the pause button will come off soon and inventory and activity levels will increase.
1/4/18
The National Association of Realtors, NAR, has done a lot of lobbying and work on legislation that effects homeowners and the Real Estate industry here’s their take on the new tax laws
https://www.nar.realtor/taxes/tax-reform/the-tax-cuts-and-jobs-act-what-it-means-for-homeowners-and-real-estate-professionals?tp=i-H43-Bb-1Jq-1cVhh-1p-E872-1c-1Z75h-14q5pj&om_rid=23954673%20&Om_ntype=NARstandard&om_mid=5074
1/3/18
Welcome to 2018. I’m already feeling behind, as I’m writing this on 1/3/18….
As of today there are 2 properties in the condo/townhouse category on the Multiple Listing Service – both came on the market on Jan 2nd. 7 single family homes are available for sale. That makes a grand total of 9 homes for sale in the entire Campbell area (95008, 95117, and parts of 95128).
The lack of inventory in 2017 propelled buyers to step up financially when purchasing a home. As buyers they faced fewer choices and competed with multiple offers for each property. It made for a dynamic market that continued to see increases in sales results as the year progressed.
Each property that closed in the Merrivale West complex increased over the past sales results, thus ending the year with 1309 Merrivale West Sq, our listing, closing at $920,000 and $871.21 per sq foot. These are all-time historical highs in both the categories for the complex.
The tax laws that we will face in 2018 still are a great unknown as to how it will affect buyers and seller’s psychology and desire to purchase or sell.
We had 4 listings in the complex in 2017; none of them had contingencies (finance, appraisal and property condition) and no appraisal issues. * Even though the offers did not have an appraisal contingency we always are aware that buyers face challenges with their loans if an appraisal doesn’t come in at value. In fact we did not have any appraisal issues with any of the 30+ transactions we represented sellers and buyers in 2017.
The number of offers each of our listing received shows just how many buyers there were actively looking to purchase verses the number of homes available.
1383 Millich Lane – active Jan 2017 – 15 offers
1459 Woodgrove – active in July 2017 – 9 offers
1413 Millich Lane- active in August 2017 – 10 offers
1309 Merrivale West Sq – active in November 2017 – 20 offers
This was the same trend we experiences in all of our 19 Listings we had in 2017. When we represented buyer’s we did have some similar results, but also did have several transaction on the buy side were there were a very low number of offers and a few were we were the only offer.
At Merrivale West 10 properties were listed on the MLS, Multiple Listing Service, & closed escrow in 2017. One additional property was sold “off market- the agent listed the sales results on the MLS for comparable purposes only after the property closed escrow. These results are is similar to the 2016 results 19 properties were listed on the MLS in 2016, with an additional property “sold off market”.
What do we expect for 2018?
Well, no one is predicting our low inventory levels will dramatically increase, foreseeing any major changes in our local and national economy. We hope that the new tax laws will not keep sellers from placing their homes on the market, thus making our already low levels go even lower (yikes!) The lack of inventory may continue to push prices up- as our local economy remains strong and we continue to have buyers wanting to purchase homes.
What we are seeing is the softening of the rental market- there are new properties and developments coming on line thus affecting that inventory. Rents are still high- but we are seeing renters having more choices and landlords having their properties available longer and frequently lowering the rental offer price. Check back in a couple months- we should see if this is just seasonal or the trend continues
There is a move to expand the ability of older property owners to transfer your property taxes throughout the state – currently there are only a handful of counties, 11, participating. https://www.ocregister.com/2017/11/27/california-realtors-launch-ballot-drive-to-expand-prop-13-for-senior-homeowners/
Contact us if you have questions- we’d be happy to share the information we have available and discuss what our we see currently happening in both the Real Estate sales market and rentals.