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Los Gatos - A Tale of Two Vastly Different Real Estate Markets in One Small Town

List prices of combined 95030 and 95032 real estate markets in Los Gatos Los Gatos is a charming town nestled into the base of foothills of the Coastal Range. It's an upscale community in Silicon Valley, with good schools, low crime, and well maintained homes overall. In general, the market is "fair" in town. But real estate is always local, and things aren't always as they seem.

Recently I looked hard at the numbers in town and learned that the real estate market's performance in one zip code, 95030, is entirely opposite that of the other, 95032.

How could that be?

Here, schools drive real estate values more than any other factor. And here, the school boundaries don't follow the town (or city) boundaries - it's very confusing for newcomers! By and large, the 95032 zip code does NOT have the highly prized "Los Gatos Schools", but instead very good schools that do not score quite as highly.

In summary, the 95030 market is seeing rising list prices and other indicators of a strong market, while the 95032 market is doing the exact opposite!

If you'd like to read more on this disparate situation in the two zip codes in town, please visit my Live in Los Gatos blog and read Understanding the Los Gatos Real Estate Market Trends fore all the details.

Posted by Mary Pope-Handy, ABR, CRS, ePRO, SRES on 02/19/2008 09:37 AM

Comments (3)

los gatos real estate market, statistics, trends, mary popehandy, los gatos homes, 95030, 95032, keller williams

Originally posted at: Mary Pope-Handy's Silicon Valley Real Estate Commentary: Los Gatos - A Tale of Two Vastly Different Real Estate Markets in One Small Town

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3 Comments on Los Gatos - A Tale of Two Vastly Different Real Estate Markets in One Small Town

FEB

2008

Mary, this is true in my area as well. Of course we can't discuss this so they have to figure it out on their own. But, out of area buyers don't understand the difference so they just ask, how come I get more house for my money in ???

We are confusing on our property lines too, you might be in Saline Schools, Ann Arbor mailing and Pittsfield Township for taxes.

Mary: You make some very important points. In our area there is a controversy right now regarding schools. One great school in the high rent part of town is lumped with the not so great schools in a less desirable city. They are trying to move this school into the better district and creating quite the controversy.

Hints, of course at class warfare, house values, snob factor, haves vs have nots, etc.

Schools can make a $100,000 or more difference in the price of homes, not to mention a far greater time to sell. Good post.

Missy - thanks for your feedback. You said, "Of course we can't discuss this". Not sure why you say that. You cannot discuss the impact of school scores on resale value and appreciation? (Schools are not a "protected class".) There are things it's illegal to discuss, but I've never heard that the API or SAT scores of a school made that list.... I'm guessing that you have other demographics at work, and it's murky. Here we discuss school performance all the time. Sometimes, buyers do NOT want the best performing schools because they are "pressure cookers". But it is always discussed. Anyway I'd love to hear more from you on this if you don't mind!!

Janet - yes. The wealthier the area, the better the schools tend to be. It isn't fair, but it is real.

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