By Clyde Noel
Town Crier Correspondent
The phone at the real estate office isn’t ringing like it used to. When it does ring, the person at the other end wants to know about houses for sale in the $600,000-$800,000 price range.
In the 94022 and 94024 postal areas, sales of homes for more than $2 million were off 40 percent in the first five months of 2001 compared with the same period last year. Statistics compiled by DataQuick Information Services show Santa Clara County homes in the luxury class are not selling because of the economic turndown and numerous layoffs.
Data from REInfolink, the multiple listing service for Santa Clara County, reported last week there were 103 homes for sale in Los Altos, 82 in Mountain View and 42 in Los Altos Hills.
Bob Morton, a broker from Coldwell Banker-Los Altos, said he had open houses the last two weekends and buyers immediately asked whether the price had been reduced on the houses.
“Some visitors to an open house make ridiculous offers, but they never put anything in writing,” said Morton. “My advice is to make an offer and see where it goes from there.”
Several realtors said having an open house at homes priced at more than $1.5 million is a waste of time. They show the property, but many buyers are waiting until September because they think home prices will come down by then and sellers will become more desperate.
The inventory of unsold homes in Santa Clara County priced at more than $1 million could last more than six months, which indicates it is definitely a buyer’s market and realtors have to go back to work.
“Things have been good for us because you have to work to sell a house these days,” said Karen Campi, of Campi Properties. “Our experience tells us what we have to do to sell a house and when to do it.”
Sallie Morgan, of Century 21-Seville Properties, said there are two kinds of buyers who meet their down payment. One is salary-based and the other is stock-based.
“Last year, 90 percent of the buyers were purchasing houses with stock money,” Morgan said. “This year, 70 percent of the purchases are salary-based. That accounts for the huge impact on upper-end homes.”
Morgan said realistic sellers understand the year 2000 was an anomaly and priced their homes with a huge appreciation. Sellers can ask whatever they want, but the buyer determines the house’s worth.
“Houses under $1.2 million are still moving,” Morgan said. “Homes in Mountain View are selling because they are purchased based on salary.”
Sam Khadder, of OnLine Capital, has been busy refinancing, even though the option is not as attractive as it was three months ago.
“We find buying activity is increasing because marginal buyers are coming out of the woodwork,” Khadder said. “Lower mortgage rates make it slightly easier to buy a home in the Bay Area and buyers are finding properties that meet their budget.”
Optimistically, realtors say the future of housing in the Los Altos area is good because it is still the best place to live in the Bay Area.
“We have the weather, the educational atmosphere with the closeness of Stanford and Berkeley, and we still are the incubator for great ideas,” Morgan said. “Traditionally, the market corrects itself every seven to eight years and comes back with more gusto.”
