Earlier this week, I posted about a 2 bedroom resale unit at Axis, one of downtown San Jose’s luxury highrise condo complexes. There is also a unit up for sale at The 88, downtown San Jose’s other luxury highrise condominium complex. This resale unit at The 88 is 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 1,199 square feet of living space, with a list price of $695,000. The condo is located on the highrise building’s 12th floor providing views of the foothills.

The 88 is a luxury highrise condo complex located in the heart of downtown San Jose. Amenities at The 88 include concierge service, pool, spa, outdoor lounge with barbecue, and billiards room. The 88 also features a rooftop terrace which allows all of its residents spectacular views from high atop the luxury highrise building.

For more information about this luxury condo or other real estate in downtown San Jose, contact Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos at (408) 297-5638 or via email.

88 E. San Fernando St. #1202
Downtown San Jose
MLS #81132066

Listing Broker: Pacific Marketing Associates

There is a very nice 2 bedroom unit for sale over at the high rise condo complex Axis. This is a 2 bed, 2 bath condo unit located on the 8th floor of Axis. This 1,333 square foot condo is a resale unit listed for $565,000. This condo is a corner unit, G floorplan. The floor plan for this piece of real estate includes a den area and a walk-in closet in the master bedroom.

Axis is the award-winning high-rise condo complex located just a short distance from San Pedro Square and HP Pavilion. The high rise community includes concierge service, swimming pool, hot tub, gym, and barbecue area.

For more information about this property at Axis or for similar listings in other high rise complexes in downtown San Jose, contact the agents at Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos at (408) 297-5638 or send an email here.

Axis #811
Downtown San Jose
MLS #81132122

Listing Broker: Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage

Perfect new loft for sale in Mariani Square - a one bedroom, two bathroom loft in historic Japantown near downtown San Jose. The loft offers 1,420 square feet of living space in a spacious, open floor plan with vaulted ceilings. The features in this Mariani Square loft include wood beam ceilings, walk-in closet, large open plan kitchen with stainless steel appliances (plus new stainless steel French door refrigerator), granite countertops, central heating and air-conditioning, large windows that offer tons of natural light, and in-unit laundry with new front loading washer and dryer. If you are looking for a loft space, this is the perfect place for you.

Mariani Square Lofts is located in historic Japantown between Jackson and Empire Streets, and 7th and 9th Streets, just minutes from downtown San Jose. The lofts have been converted from the Mariani packing plant warehouse, and retain the fabulous brick exterior. The original water tower from the packing plant overlooks the complex. Mariani Square Lofts features a clubhouse/rec room and landscaped courtyards and walkways. It is within walking distances of the fantastic restaurants and shops of Japantown.

550 Manzana Place is listed at $319,000. Give us a call today at (408) 297-5638 for more information or for a private showing of this unique piece of real estate.

Listing Broker: Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos

New legislation just signed into law will provide more help for California homeowners on short sales transactions. Governor Jerry Brown recently signed into law SB 458 which provides that any lender agreeing to do a short sale is accepting the short sale payment as payment in full. This means that the lender cannot come after the homeowner for any deficiency resulting after the short sale. This rule originally only applied to first mortgages (SB 931). SB 458 extends this provision to apply to all junior lienholders as well. California homeowners short selling their homes can rest assured that the banks will not be able to seek any recourse against them if the banks agree to the short sale.

If you are considering selling your home or condo, or having difficulties making your mortgage payment, call the knowledgeable real estate agents at Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos at (408) 297-5638. We can talk to you about your options including a short sale of your home.

Hot new condo for sale in downtown San Jose.  This foreclosure property should not be confused with a short sale.  As a bank-owned REO listing located in The Plaza (MLS #81131025) this sale will reflect more similarly to a traditional sale and is listed for $250,000.  This condo is approximately 838 square feet of living space.  The condo is a second floor unit with an open floorplan and balcony overlooking downtown San Jose.

If you are not looking for the high rise lifestyle, The Plaza is a great alternative.  This mid-rise condo complex is a located in San Jose’s historic St. James District.  This community is walking distance to the HP Pavillion, Safeway Market, Diridon Station, Target, Chevy’s, San Pedro Square Market, Gordon Biersch and many other downtown amenities.

 If you are intersted in learning more about this bank-owned condo at The Plaza, please contact Nikki Langendorf at (408) 896-4221 or Joey Tsutsui at (408) 838-8293. For additional properties in downtown San Jose, please visit the Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos homepage. 

The Plaza
30 E. Julian Street #216
Downtown San Jose
MLS #81131025
List Price $250,000

Property listed by RE/MAX Properties West.

If you are currently having difficulty making your monthly mortgage payment, like so many other American families, the experienced agents at Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos are here to help and can discuss your options with you.  One common solution is to short sell your home.  A short sale can be a good option but what is a “short sale”?

*A homeowner is “short” when the amount owed on the property is higher than the current market value.

*A “short sale” occurs when the homeowner’s lender or lenders agrees to accept less than the full balance owed on the loan amount when the property is sold.

But why do a short sale?  The real benefit of a short sale is that it allows the homeowner to avoid foreclosure and salvage some of their credit score. The impact on your credit score from a foreclosure can be much more damaging than a short sale. I can explain the pros and cons of a short sale versus a foreclosure.

The downtown San Jose real estate market has experienced difficult times like so many other areas in California and around the country.   If you own real estate in downtown San Jose and are finding it difficult to meet the demands of your current mortgage, please call me, Mike Murphy with Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos.  I have been very successful in closing short sales transactions. I have helped a number of clients close the short sale of their home thereby saving them the embarrassment and heartache of a foreclosure. Don’t wait before its too late. Call me now and see how I can help you.

Michael Murphy
CA DRE #01869087
Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos
Mobile: (408) 300-3184
Email: mike@siliconvalleylofts.com
Facebook: Mike Murphy
LinkedIn: Mike Murphy

The spring and summer months generally tend to be much more active in real estate than the winter and holiday months. This year is proving to be no different. The condo real estate market in the downtown San Jose area has seen a significant increase this past month. Could it be that the real estate market is actually getting better? Let’s not get too far ahead of ourselves here. Its far from being on solid ground but there are signs of the market stabilizing. Looking at the table below for the condo real estate market in the Central San Jose area, you’ll see that the number of closed transactions more than doubled from May to June 2011. And there was also a significant increase in the sales volume from all of these condo sales. Whoa! And this was a significant increase in the number of closed sales from the previous year as well. This is a definitely a positive trend. That means there was lots of activity in the in month of May for this many transactions to close in June.

Plenty of the condo market activity during this time frame occurred in the short sale and bank-owned (REO) categories. Of the 57 condo closings in June 2011, there were 18 condo short sales transactions and 17 condo bank-owned sales. That’s over half the number of closings. And there doesn’t seem to be any shortage of either short sales or bank-owned properties coming up on the market. I don’t know if this is a good or bad thing, but at least the market activity is increasing which is positive.

Reminder: The following statistics represent sales of Central San Jose’s (MLS Area 9 which includes downtown San Jose) condos, townhomes, and lofts. As noted in past statistical postings, these numbers may not include sales from new construction developments. New developments may or may not provide information to the MLS.

*These statistics are generated using information from the MLSListings, Inc. (formerly RE InfoLink) MLS, but have not been verified and are not guaranteed. MLSListings, Inc. and Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos disclaims any resposibility for the accuracy and reliability of these statistics. This information should not be relied upon for real estate transaction decisions.

If you haven’t already seen it, check out the new Downtown San Jose High Rises page on the Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos site. This is a great resource for anyone specifically looking for information on the highrise condo complexes in downtown San Jose or just interested in learning more about high rise living in downtown San Jose. There is lots of information on Axis, City Heights, and The 88. (Unfortunately, 360 Residences is now for rent only and no longer a high-rise condo complex for sale.) All three high rise condo communities have new units for sale. City Heights, the oldest of the three high rise buildings, is beginning to see more units coming up for resale. Axis and The 88 have only seen a very limited handful of resale units thus far. This is prime real estate in downtown San Jose. If you are looking for a home with a view, you need to check out Axis, The 88, and City Heights.

For more information about purchasing a condo at one of these great highrise condo complexes, contact one of the knowledgeable agents at Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos.

Great new piece of real estate in downtown San Jose for sale.  This bank-owned REO listing over at Ryland Mews (MLS #81127837) is listed for $254,900.  This downtown condo is approximately 1,292 square feet of living space.  The condo is a top floor unit at Ryland Mews and gets lots of natural light.  The condo has an open floor plan, high ceilings, and large master suite.  This foreclosed condo includes outdoor space with a balcony overlooking Downtown San Jose.

Ryland Mews is a collection of condos and lofts located within walking distance to San Pedro Square, Gordon Biersch, San Jose Market Place, Chevy’s, and many other restaurants.  Ryland Mews is also walking distance to VTA Light Rail.

 If you are intersted in learning more about this bank-owned condo at Ryland Mews, please contact Nikki Langendorf at (408) 896-4221 or Joey Tsutsui at (408) 838-8293.  This property is listed by Angel Lynn Realty.  For additional properties in downtown San Jose, please visit the Silicon Valley Lofts & Condos homepage. 

Living space at the Ryland Mews condo.

There’s finally some good news on the Silicon Valley real estate front. According to a recent article on Forbes.com, the San Jose real estate market is expected to have the highest increase in home values in 2011. Forbes relies on the Local Market Monitor (LMM), a real estate research firm, to analyze key economic factors that directly influence housing markets – things like unemployment rates, job growth, and even the number of active housing permits in a particular city. The results suggest that San Jose should experience a rebounding economy and home values increasing steadily over the next three years. That is great news for San Jose and downtown San Jose! California as a whole saw three metro areas in the top ten: San Jose (1), Santa Ana (2), and San Diego (5).

For everyone who’s seen their equity shrink or who is upside-down on their mortgage, this is particularly good news. Job growth and a rebounding economy is also good news for everyone in San Jose. The many new restaurants in downtown San Jose, the high rises that are looking to expand their occupancy, and the exciting up and coming projects in downtown San Jose such as the San Pedro Square Urban Market, the Little Italy Business District, and hopefully the new ballpark in downtown San Jose will continue to make San Jose a vibrant and welcoming place to call home.

For more information or to read the Forbes.com article on the best and worst places for real estate home values in 2011, read the article here.