Lloyd Binen Silicon Valley R since 1976;408-565-8177

Wordless Wednesday; Old Mountain View CA Home Sans Foundation. Put this ~1,100 sq. ft. bungalow on a good foundation, gut and re-do the interior, and this little bungalow one block from vibrant Castro St. will be worth about $1,000,000. I think that's what is happening.

Lloyd Binen

Realtor/Broker/DRE 572654

Certified Realty Services

19200 Shubert Drive

Saratoga, CA 95070

Certified Residential Specialist (CRS); Graduate, Realtors Institute (GRI)

e-mail

408-373-4411

January 2012 Home Sales Sizzle in Santa Clara County CA

There's nothing like getting Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data to confirm one's impression of the larger real estate market. It's as vibrant as it feels. The Number of January 2012 Home Sales in Santa Clara County exceeded all previous January sales since 1999 according to the local Multiple Listing Service (MLSListings, Inc.).

The results are particularly noteworthy because they include the Dot Com boom in 1999. Furthermore, note the large increase in January 2012 sales compared to recent Januaries--nearly 50% more than the preceding three Januaries, and a whooping 175% more than January 2008.

The robust Silicon Valley economy and extraordinarily low interest rates get the credit.

Please call or e-mail any questions or comments on Home Sales in Santa Clara County. The lessons I've learned from 35 years of local real estate sales experience benefit my clients from planning through closing a real estate transaction.

Lloyd Binen

Broker/Realtor/DRE 572654

Certified Realty Services

19200 Shubert Drive

Saratoga, CA 95070-4046

Certified Residential Specialist (CRS); Graduate, Realtors Institute (GRI)

408-373-4411

Saratoga CA & Santa Clara County Home Cost per Square Foot; An Annual Market.

The Graph shows the Cost-per -Square-Foot for Single Family Residences sold each year in Saratoga, Ca and Santa Clara County from 2003 through 2011, according to the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS;MLSlistings, Inc.).

My disclaimer: Cost-per-square- foot is a crude measurement. It excludes all other features of a home that influence price such as lot size, age, schools, construction quality & other amenities, all of which vary widely. Insofar as other features stay the same from year to year, cost-per-square foot provides a very rough "ballpark" estimate of trending, and is most accurate for that purpose--seeing trends.

For both the City of Saratoga and County of Santa Clara, the per- square-foot cost of Single Family Residences bottomed in 2009; and has been stable, even rising slightly, since then.

For an estimate of the Market Value of a particular Saratoga CA, or West Valley home, please call or e-mail me. As a Saratoga homeowner since 1985 I know the value and benefits of living in Saratoga CA and West Valley. And the lessons I've learned from selling real estate since 1976 benefit my clients from planning through closing.

Lloyd Binen

Realtor/Broker/DRE 572654

Certified Realty Services

19200 Shubert Drive

Saratoga, CA 95070-4046

Certified Residential Specialist (CRS); Graduate, Realtors Institute (GRI)

408-373-4411

More Experts Agree--Buy a Home Now.

Two weeks ago I quoted Burton Malkiel, the author of A Random Walk Down Wall Street whose Op Ed appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

"The U.S. housing bust has made the single-family home an extremely attractive investment. House prices have fallen sharply, and 30-year mortgages are available for people with good credit at rates below 4%. Housing affordability has never been better."

Another very smart, independent real estate economist and UC Berkeley professor and chairman at the Fisher Center for Real Estate and Urban Economics at Berkeley, Ken Rosen, recently said this about Califoria real estate:

"We're going to see prices stabilize." "It's already happening in pockets like Silicon Valley and San Francisco. If you want to buy a house, it's probably the best time in California in 30 years."

Bingo. 'Best time in 30 years'. That quote appeared in a San Jose Mercury News article discussing Bay Area real estate. I would say the same thing because I believe those quotes, but it doesn't have the same gravitas when I say it. Actually, I think Professor Rosen's opinion may be about nine months tardy.

Lloyd Binen

Realtor/Broker/DRE 572654

Certified Realty Services

19200 Shubert Drive

Saratoga, CA 95070

Certified Residential Specialist (CRS); Graduate, Realtors Institute

408-373-4411 or e-mail

Campbell CA Homes Sales in December 2011

The Map and Chart show all Campbell, CA homes sales in December 2011 according to the local Multiple Listing Service (MLS;MLSlistings, Inc.). The School District is shown in the column on the right. DOM is Days on Market. The Real Estate Owned (REO) is shown in blude, and the Short Sales are in red.

The bottom row of the Chart shows the averages. The "average" home sold in Campbell CA in December 2011 was a 3.3 bedroom, 2.1 bathroom home with 1,607 square feet on a 7,170 sq. ft. lot. It was 53 years old and on the market for 101 days (DOM) before an offer was accepted. The average List (Asking) Price was $647,005. and the average Sale Price was $639,421, or 99.0% of the List Price.

Note that four of the five lowest priced Campbell homes sold for more than their asking price. That is caused by multiple offers from competing buyers in the lower price ranges where demand for Campbell homes has been the strongest.

Please feel free to call or e-mail me questions or concerns about real estate in Campbell, CA. The lessons I've learned from 35 years of local real estate sales experience benefit my clients from planning through closing a transaction.

Lloyd Binen

Realtor/Broker/DRE 572654

Certified Realty Services

19200 Shubert Drive

Saratoga, CA 95070-4046

Certified Residential Specialist (CRS); Graduate Realtors Institute

408-373-4411