The Almaden Valley real estate market, a subsidiary of the larger San Jose, Santa Clara and Silicon Valley real estate markets, is showing steady signs of improvement after the recent recession. According to a May 20, 2010 article from the San Jose Mercury News, “After months of strong increases in home sales, Santa Clara County posted only a slight gain in sales compared with April 2009, but the median price of the houses sold jumped 26 percent from a year earlier.” The piece, written by Sue McAllister, went on to note that “The median price of previously owned single-family houses that changed hands in Santa Clara County last month was $550,000, up 26.4 percent from $435,000 in April 2009, and flat from March 2010, according to a report Thursday from MDA DataQuick. A total of 1,185 houses sold in the county last month, up just 1.2 percent from the same time last year, and up 7 percent from March of this year.”

The average price of an Almaden Valley home for sale is likely to increase in the upcoming months, according to a May 9, 2010 article also from the San Jose Mercury News. This piece noted that “After nearly three years of bumpy decline, home values in Santa Clara County have bottomed out and are showing slight but steady appreciation, according to a report released today from real estate information company Zillow.” The piece by Sue McAllister went on to say that “Zillow noted in the largely upbeat report that the median estimated value of homes in the county in the first quarter of this year was $571,000, up 1.6 percent from a year earlier. And month by month, the company said, values have been rising in increments of 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent since June 2009.”

Coldwell Banker reported particular strength in the more exclusive portions of the Almaden Valley and Silicon Valley real estate markets. According to a May 26, 2010 press release from the company, “Silicon Valley’s high-end housing market continued to rebound from its recessionary lows with both sales and the median sale price climbing once again in April, according to Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage, the Bay Area’s leading provider of luxury real estate services.”

Since San Jose serves as the county seat of Santa Clara County, the San Jose real estate market depends heavily on the trends affecting the larger area of Santa Clara County. The Santa Clara County Association of Realtors reported especially strong home sales during the month of January, according to a press release issued on February 16, 2010. The article noted that “Sellers in Santa Clara County continue to benefit from intense buyer demand and lower volume of homes for sale. Sellers and buyers closed escrow on 825 homes in January, a 15.06 percent jump over the 717 in the same period last year, according to data from MLS Listings, Inc. Home sales have gone up in month-to-month comparisons for several consecutive months.” The piece continued to cite Karl Lee, the President of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, who stated that “Multiple offers appear to be spreading into most price ranges and neighborhoods…We expect buying activity to continue intensifying.”

A reminder of the precarious state of San Jose homes for sale came in a February 18, 2010 article in the Mercury News, which found that “After months of double-digit growth, South Bay home sales leveled off in January, a new report released Thursday showed, in a sign the housing market remains fragile. But most experts interviewed said the recovery that started last year is likely to continue later this year, citing an increase in home prices in the same report and a shift to a more sustainable mix of homes on the market, with fewer foreclosures.” In the words of Andrew LePage of MDA DataQuick, “We could easily see a lot of things change come spring.”

Another important indicator for San Jose real estate – foreclosures – was commented on in another article by the Mercury News. According to the February 16, 2010 article by Sue McAllister and Pete Carey, “After taking a break for the holidays, foreclosures spiked in Santa Clara and San Mateo counties in January. Despite efforts by the federal government and lenders to help people stay in their homes, foreclosures rose 37 percent in Santa Clara County last month from December…”