Four years after the crash, housing's "new normal" is anything but. With double-digit price increases and multiple competing offers the talk of the Bay Area single-family home market, Northern California's Multiple Listing Service (MLS), MLSListings Inc, took a look at San Jose homes in the townhome/condo market over the past year, as well as all of Santa Clara County.

Four years after the crash, housing's "new normal" is anything but. With double-digit price increases and multiple competing offers the talk of the Bay Area single-family home market, Northern California's Multiple Listing Service (MLS), MLSListings Inc, took a look at San Jose homes in the townhome/condo market over the past year, as well as all of Santa Clara County.


"It's clear that the condo/townhome market is keeping pace with what we're seeing in single family homes across Silicon Valley and greater Bay Area, with low inventory and rising prices," said James Harrison, president and CEO of MLSListings Inc. "Our especially tight rental environment and historically low mortgage rates continue to entice buyers in the condo and townhome sector."
San Jose Homes Snapshot

 

Representing nearly two-thirds of the townhome/condo market for Santa Clara County, San Jose real estate is selling faster, and for more money than the previous three years. Median price rose above $300,000 in 3Q 2012 for the first time since the market crash. The median sale price has climbed 27 percent in the last year alone, from $252,000 in 3Q 2011, to $319,200 in 3Q 2012.
San Jose inventory of homes for sale has fallen even more dramatically. At 434 units in 3Q 2012, San Jose condo/townhome inventory stood at its lowest point in four years, just one-third of what was available in 3Q 2008.


Santa Clara County

 

In Santa Clara County, the median price of a condo or townhome has risen 25 percent in the last year, to $395,000 in 3Q 2012, nearing the $400,000 mark for the first time since August 2008. However, current prices still remain about 20 percent below 1Q 2008 levels, when the median price hovered around $510,000.
Santa Clara County inventory dropped 65 percent since 3Q 2008, and this fall there were just 685 units in the County. There is little relief from new condos/townhomes coming onto the market; new listings also are at four-year lows, at 1,181 units in 3Q 2012 compared to 1,917 new listings in 3Q 2008.