Jeff Spoelstra

Looking at a 10-year history of property sales in San Jose, single-family home prices continue to remain stubbornly just under where they were in 2002/2003. After a summer of below-normal activity, prices appear to have erroded from March of this year and are down approximately 5% from September of last year. Having declined steadily since 2008, condos and townhouses showed a slight gain in last month.

Distressed properties, short sales and bank-owned sales, still comprise a significant share of the market activity; averaging almost 50% of single-family homes on the market across Santa Clara County. However, that ratio rises above 60% in some areas, the worst case area being South San Jose where it is over 80%. Thankfully, though, prices for single-family homes have remained above their low point in 2009.

The picture is not nearly so rosy for condos. Distressed properties currently comprise over 68% of the homes on the market across the county, swinging above 80% in a number of areas. As a result, condo prices have steadily declined since the initial market crash in 2008. This past September shows the first uptick in prices in three years. Will it continue? Stay tuned.

Sales data shown is based on a review of property sales data taken directly from the local multiple listing service for San Jose and Santa Clara County. It is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed.

Click here for a larger version of the chart.

The October 2011 edition of my Santa Clara County Real Estate Market Trends Report covering San Jose and surrounding communities is now available. This report is a wealth of practical and statistical information about the real estate market in Santa Clara county. It covers the trends and current condition of the market thru September 2011. Key headlines from this month’s report:

• Mortgage rates reach record lows.
• Foreclosure starts surge in August.
• Prices for homes down, year-over-year, for the eleventh month in a row.

The report is available to download from http://www.box.net/shared/qpffpulp62gum9obpm04.

Feel free to pass the report along to anyone you think may be interested.

Rooftop solar panels are becoming more and more prevalent these days. I'm seeing them pop up on more homes in my neighborhood all the time.

In California, the sun doesn't shine straight down at any time of the year. The line-of-sight from my roof to the sun usually goes over several neighboring properties. Which begs the question, will the sun always shine on my panels? What if my neighbor lets his trees grow so tall that they shade my roof? What if they add a second story to their house and now my panels don't get the same amount of sunlight as before?

If you're planning a solar installation - or have one already - and you're concerned about possible issues with future sunlight access, you may want to check into arranging and recording "solar easements" with pertinent neighbors. A solar easement is an agreement whereby one property owner would receive assurances from another that the sunlight which travels over the neighbor's property would always be available. The neighbor, and all subsequent owners, would be restricted in building or planting trees which could obstruct the sunlight.

It is important, of course, that all solar easements be officially recorded, just as other uses and conditions are included in public records. Otherwise, such an easement might not be noted during the title search at the time of a real estate sale. Such an omission could create serious problems at a later date when the new owners decide to make structural or landscape changes that would affect the path of sunlight across their property.

Don't be left in the dark (literally) tomorrow for failing to plan ahead today. Click here to read a more in-depth article.

The September 2011 edition of my Santa Clara County Real Estate Market Trends Report covering San Jose and surrounding communities is now available. This report covers the state of the real estate market thru August 2011, and is a wealth of practical and statistical information about the current state of the real estate market in Santa Clara county. Key headlines from this month’s report:

• Where have all the foreclosures gone?
• Home and condo sales pick up in August.

The report is available to download from http://www.box.net/shared/vqgonbpxrkjkkxzkez1z.

Feel free to pass the report along to anyone you think may be interested.

Here is an update to the California State Responsibility Area fire prevention fee I noted in a previous post (see New Fee for Wildland Property Owners). The Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention just issued the official regulations regarding this new fee.

To recap: the state legislature and Governor Brown have approved collecting an annual "fire prevention fee" from owners of property in California wildland areas designated as State Responsibility Areas (SRA). The collected monies will go to creating an SRA Fire Prevention Fund that will fund fire prevention activities benefiting the property owners in the SRA.

On August 22, the official regulations covering how the fee will be assessed and collected were published. Click here to read them.