I hope everyone had a nice and relaxing Christmas break. While the malls and parking lots were filled with the usual madness, it did seem a little bit slower this year than in the past. Not that it made finding a parking spot at the mall any easier. In all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, the numbers for November 2007 were overlooked. So let’s take a look. As always, the following statistics represent Central San Jose’s (MLS Area 9 which includes downtown San Jose) condos, townhomes, and lofts.

2007 . . . . . . . Inventory . . . . . Closed Sales . . . Median Sales $ . . . . Total Sales Volume

September . . . . 162 . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . $490,000 . . . . . . . . . $5,986,500

October . . . . . 172 . . . . . . . . . . 12 . . . . . . . . . $430,000 . . . . . . . . . $5,943,700

November . . . . 166 . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . . $421,000 . . . . . . . . . $5,990,500

There was not a whole lot of change over the past few months as you can see which, in this real estate market, is probably a good thing. The number of closed sales in November was up from the preceding two months but the median sales price continued to dip. The more telling statistics, however, are reflected when comparing this year’s numbers to last year. So let’s compare November 2006 to November 2007:

Year . . . . . . . Inventory . . . . . Closed Sales . . . Median Sales $ . . . . Total Sales Volume

Nov 2006 . . . . 114 . . . . . . . . . . 28 . . . . . . . . . $479,500 . . . . . . . . $13,094,650

Nov 2007 . . . . 166 . . . . . . . . . . 14 . . . . . . . . . $421,000 . . . . . . . . . $5,990,500

Boy, what a difference a year makes. Inventory is up over 30% from last year and the number of closed transactions is down by half from last year. Now this may seem like a dramatic dropoff in the number of transactions from the previous year, and it is, but let’s not forget that these are statistics. And statistics can be deceiving. What these statistics don’t reflect are closed transactions in new construction developments. Why? Most new construction developments don’t list their properties on the MLS and, therefore, aren’t reported in MLS statistics. In downtown San Jose, this will account for a number of transactions. How many? Hard to tell. But what we do know is this . . . North Keystone, City Heights, and Lofts on the Alameda all opened for sale this year. Sales in any these complexes won’t show up in MLS statistics which may account for some of the discrepancy between this year and last year.
The real estate downturn from the foreclosure fallout probably accounts for a big part of the dropoff, but statististics also have to be taken into consideration.

*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. disclaims any resposibility for the accuracy and reliability of these statistics. This information should not be relied upon for real estate transaction decisions.