How do you understand the real estate market in a specific San Jose neighborhood?
If you’re thinking of buying a house in San Jose, you’ll want to understand the real estate market in the specific San Jose neighborhood that you’re interested in.
Understanding the market of that specific neighborhood will give you a competitive advantage and ensure you don’t overpay for a property. By staying in the know, you’ll be better able to predict what a home will go for without accidentally overpaying.
Understanding a specific neighborhood is helpful for assessing properties, as well. For example, if you have your heart set on a 4/bed 3/bath Mission-style home in Willow Glen and know that there aren’t many of these homes, you can act quickly when the right property goes on the market.
Remember that the real estate market is dynamic and can change over time. It's essential to regularly update your knowledge and stay informed to have a comprehensive understanding of the San Jose neighborhood you are interested in.
Here’s how to understand the real estate market in a specific San Jose neighborhood.
Work with a Knowledgeable Realtor in San Jose
Any real estate agent licensed in California can technically help you with the home buying process, but you want to work with a real estate agent in San Jose. Actually, you want to get even more specific, finding an agent who specializes in the neighborhood you’re interested in.
This is important because the agent will be able to help you understand the market in that specific neighborhood.
For example, if you work with a real estate agent in Almaden, they’ll be able to provide valuable insights about market trends and current conditions. They’ll have nuanced knowledge of pricing dynamics and buyer/selling preferences. They can also help you understand how market forces (such as mortgage rates, layoffs, or other economic factors) are impacting what’s happening in the market– specifically in Almaden
If you want to understand the real estate market in a specific San Jose neighborhood, find a professional and knowledgeable agent who knows that neighborhood like the back of their hand.
Understand Bidding Trends in the Neighborhood
When a home is put up for sale, it’s given a “list” or “asking” price. Buyers then make an offer– they can offer list price, go over the list price, or offer below it.
In the competitive San Jose housing market, homes often go over the asking price. This is due to historically low San Jose housing inventory and high demand. Buying a house in San Jose is highly desirable– the demand for housing often outstrips the available supply, leading to a scarcity of homes. When there are more buyers than available properties, competition intensifies, driving up prices and leading to overbidding.
Even though you may hear horror stories about overbidding, the reality can be much different. That’s why it’s important to gain an understanding of overbidding in a particular neighborhood. The neighborhood you’re interested in may have a history of overbidding, or homes may be selling for at or below asking.
Trends are based on a number of factors and can change at any time, so it’s important to stay abreast of what’s happening. To gain an understanding, set up a search to manually track this with an agent. We also recommend that you look at our stats pages to see what the prior month's trends were, especially sales price to list price ratio.
Stay on Top of Inventory Trends
The Silicon Valley housing market has historically low inventory, meaning there aren’t many homes put up for sale. These inventory trends change all the time, with some seasons having more inventory than others, and other years having more homes than others.
Again, specific neighborhoods will have differing inventory trends. When inventory is low, it is often a seller’s market and buyers will need to act quickly and be prepared to overbid. In contrast, when inventory is high (rare in the San Jose housing market), sellers may be more willing to negotiate on price.
To stay on top of inventory trends, explore the stats page or have a detailed discussion with your agent about local trends. You can then review specifics (we’ve provided links in the next sections).
Refer to Market Stats for Particular Neighborhoods
Each month, we compile San Jose Housing Market Data which includes sales, inventory, median sales price, and average sales price. We compile stats broadly for all of San Jose, but we also do this for the following individual neighborhoods:
For example, in May 2023, the median Almaden homes for sale closed data was $2,176,000. The average price in this same month (May 2023) was $2,257,880. Almaden Valley Homes closed in this month sold above list price with the average sales price to list price ratio of 102.6% of the asking price. Compared to Almaden Valley prices 3 years ago (pre-pandemic), the market today is up 36% (May 2020 median, $1,600,000).
Reading through the market stats for the particular neighborhood you’re interested in should be done each month. This will help you understand the market in the neighborhood so you know what to expect should you choose to buy a home.
Understanding the Real Estate Market in San Jose Neighborhoods
Understanding the market in a particular neighborhood will help you better understand the San Jose housing market, particularly in how it relates to the neighborhood you’re interested in. Be sure to work with a knowledgeable real estate agent and refer to market stats each month to get an idea of what’s going on.
Interested in working with us to better understand the market in a particular neighborhood? Schedule your buyer consultation today. Curious about the home buying process? Read our guide to buying a house in San Jose.
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