South County Real Estate Today

South Santa Clara County Real Estate Market Review April 2012

gretchenmerrick — Fri, 11 May 2012 16:39:57 +0000

April 2012 continued to be a seller’s market in our area with a total of 133 single family homes going into contract. If homes were priced right, they sold quickly and often with multiple offers. Although the average sale price dropped by 5% year-over-year, the median sale price rose by 2% in the same period. The numbers below are based on MLS statistics for MLS Area 1: Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin. If you would like a market report of a specific area within Area 1 or elsewhere, please contact me.

Single Family Residences

Number of Sales: April, 2012: 133 April, 2011: 88 change: +51%

Average Sale price: April, 2012: $487,318 April, 2011: $510,711 change: -5%

Median Sale price: April, 2012: $448,000 April, 2011: $438,000 change: +2%

Price/square foot: April, 2012: $226/s.f. April, 2011: $225/s.f. change: +0.4%

Average Days on Market: April, 2012: 63 April, 2011: 89 change: -29%

Number of Closed Sales: April, 2012: 110 April, 2011: 102 change: +8%

Number of New Active Listings: April, 2012: 45 April, 2011: 168 change: -73%

Current Number of Active Listings: 115

Current Absorption Rate: 4.5 weeks

South County Real Estate 4/15/12 – 4/22/12

gretchenmerrick — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 23:44:56 +0000

South Santa Clara County real estate was hopping last week! There was a lot of activity in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin. I put some buyer clients into contract on a beautiful home at 17423 Serene Drive in Morgan Hill. There were a total of 45 residences (single family homes and condos) that went into contract here. Thirty-six new listings came onto the market which is nice to see due to our low inventory. Hopefully we’ll see more coming on as the spring moves into high gear. See the table below for the new listings available as of last week.

Last week in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin:

36 residential properties were put onto the market

45 residential properties went pending under contract

24 residential properties closed escrow

Overall in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin:

211 residential properties are currently active on the market

385 residential properties are currently pending under contract

If you would like to view any of the properties below or any other properties please call me at (408) 892-9015. I would be happy to make arrangements to show them to you.

NEW LISTINGS MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN 4/15/12 - 4/22/12

South County Real Estate 4/8/2012 – 4/15/2015

gretchenmerrick — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 21:39:09 +0000

Okay, come on you sellers who are on the fence about selling – now is GREAT time to put your house on the market. Inventory is the lowest it’s been in over seven years. I know that there is talk that home prices are starting to inch up, but in south Santa Clara County this is because inventory is painfully low and buyers are competing and over-bidding each other. Interest rates are extremely low and this won’t last forever. But for now – sounds like a seller’s market to me!

In the past week 24 new residential listings came on the market in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin, while 28 residential listings went into contract. See the table below for the new listings available as of last week.

Last week in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin:

28 residential properties went pending under contract

13 residential properties closed escrow

Overall in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin:

209 residential properties are currently active on the market

387 residential properties are currently pending under contract

If you would like to view any of the properties below or any other properties please call me at (408) 892-9015. I would be happy to make arrangements to show them to you.

NEW LISTINGS MORGAN HILL, GILROY, SAN MARTIN 4/8/12 - 4/15/12

Distressed Real Estate Sales in South Santa Clara County

gretchenmerrick — Sun, 15 Apr 2012 20:43:38 +0000

I got to wondering how the number of financially distressed real estate sales in our south Santa Clara County towns of Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin compares with several years ago. Are they lessening? That was my guess but I had to dig back to some of my old blog posts to find out if my guess was correct. I found an old post from January, 2010: Percentage of Distressed Sales in South County that looked at the real estate sales in our area from January 2009 to January 2010.

Closed single family homes and condos January 2009 – 2010:

Morgan Hill: total sales = 444, distressed sales = 231, percentage distressed = 52%

Gilroy: total sales = 659, distressed sales = 491, percentage distressed = 75%

San Martin: total sales = 36, distressed sales = 23, percentage distressed = 64%

Now to compare this to the past 365 days, April 15, 2011 – April 15, 2012:

Morgan Hill: total sales = 501, distressed sales = 281, percentage distressed = 56%

Gilroy: total sales = 622, distressed sales = 414, percentage distressed = 67%

San Martin: total sales = 38, distressed sales = 25, percentage distressed = 66%

Well, this looks like my guess for the past year was incorrect. Things haven’t changed that much. It’s nice to see the percentage is lower in Gilroy but is actually a little higher in Morgan Hill and San Martin. But I think the real story will be told when I look at these same statistics next year. I think that the distressed market is finally starting to dry up. As a matter of fact, let’s look at what is currently on the market right now:

Morgan Hill: active listings = 116, active distressed = 32, percentage distressed = 28%

Gilroy: active listings = 80, active distressed = 24, percentage distressed = 30%

San Martin: active listings = 15, active distressed = 4, percentage distressed = 27%

If the active single family home and condo listings are any indication, the number of distressed homes on the market are finally starting to thin out. Of those properties that are still in financially distressed situations, hopefully those who wish to stay in their homes are able to modify their loans and those who want to get out from under their mortgages are able to sell short with a lot more ease than just a few years ago….

South County Real Estate 3/30/12 – 4/5/12

gretchenmerrick — Fri, 06 Apr 2012 04:28:23 +0000

The real estate market continues to hum along at a fast clip. While only 23 new residential listings came on the market in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin, 43 residential listings went into contract. This is creating a very, very low inventory of available homes for sale. The table below lists the newest homes to hit MLS. If you are at all contemplating selling your home, now just might be optimum timing! And if you’d like a comparable market analysis for your home, I’d be happy to meet with you.

Last week in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin:

43 residential properties went pending under contract

22 residential properties closed escrow

Overall in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin:

198 residential properties are currently active on the market

394 residential properties are currently pending under contract

If you would like to view any of the properties below or any other properties please call me at (408) 892-9015. I would be happy to make arrangements to show them to you.

NEW LISTINGS MORGAN HILL, GILROY, SAN MARTIN 3/30/12 - 4/5/12

29th Annual Wildflower Run

gretchenmerrick — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 00:10:57 +0000

As a member of the American Association of University Women, AAUW, I’d like to encourage all of you runners – and walkers – to come out and enjoy the 29th annual Wildflower Run in Morgan Hill on April 1, 2012. There is a 2k run for children, a 5k run/walk and a 10k run. If you’ve never participated in this run, I highly recommend it! Serious runners come from far and wide to compete on the flat, fast course through scenic local back roads. But those just wanting to get some exercise and walk or jog are welcome to participate in the run as well.

The Morgan Hill branch of AAUW is dedicated to promoting equity and education for women and girls. Each year our branch raises thousands of dollars through the Wildflower Run to fund local scholarships for women and girls as well as contributing to scholarships for women at the national level.

For more information about the run, click on this link: Morgan Hill Wildflower Run. The weather is supposed to be sunny so I hope to see you at Live Oak High School for the run!

South County Weekly Real Estate Update 3/17/12

gretchenmerrick — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 00:56:04 +0000

Only 19 new residential listings came on to MLS last week in the south Santa Clara County towns of Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin. See the table below. Inventory is really shrinking and homes are selling with much fewer days on market. Also homes that aren’t quite as desirable and have been sitting on the market for awhile are now finally selling.

Also last week in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin:

48 residential properties went pending under contract

14 residential properties closed escrow

Overall in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin:

230 residential properties are currently active on the market

376 residential properties are currently pending under contract

If you would like to view any of the properties below or any other properties please call me at (408) 892-9015. I would be happy to make arrangements to show them to you.

NEW LISTINGS MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN 3/10/12 - 3/17/12

Sold in One Day!

gretchenmerrick — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 00:05:43 +0000

Whoa! The market is heating up! I just listed an immaculate new listing in San Jose that promptly received two offers the first day on the market. The home was priced correctly for the market at $659,000 and the sellers have taken extremely good care of it. Inventory is currently very low and there are a lot of motivated buyers out there. All of these factors added up to a very quick sale for the sellers!

765 Colleen Drive in San Jose is a 1,926 sq.ft. home on a 6,161 sq.ft. lot and has 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. It is situated in an ideal location with gorgeous views of the open space across the street. Perfect for wildlife watching and spontaneous hikes, the open space also provides a lovely view of the changing seasons. The home has a very comfortable floor plan, gourmet kitchen open to the family room and large living room and dining room. The backyard is perfect for entertaining, relaxing and gardening.

South County Weekly Real Estate Update 3/1/12

gretchenmerrick — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 01:57:58 +0000

Quite a few new listings came onto the south Santa Clara County market last week. Sellers are wising up to take advantage of the low inventory that currently exists in our area. There were 50 new single family homes and townhouse/condo listings that came on the market in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin. This week all 50 of the new listings are single family residences. See the table below for the new listings.

Also last week in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin:

46 residential properties went under contract

25 residential properties closed escrow

Man, this market is smokin’!!

Overall in Morgan Hill, Gilroy and San Martin there are:

261 residential properties active on the market

338 residential properties that are pending under contract

If you would like to view any of the properties below or any other properties please call me at (408) 892-9015. I would be happy to make arrangements to show them to you.

NEW LISTINGS MORGAN HILL, GILROY & SAN MARTIN 2/23/12 - 3/1/12

Intero Real Estate Service’s Top 1%

gretchenmerrick — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 20:47:24 +0000

Made it in the top 1% of the entire company – not bad for a south county Realtor!