Santa Clara County Real Estate Investing: The Time May be Right

Listen to all the bad news reports. It's the worst time since the Great Depression to buy real estate, right?

Not so, according to some individual investors, who think the market slump has made selected areas more desirable than they've been in years.

While many buyers, whether potential residents or investors, are staying on the sidelines, largely from fear that prices will continue to plummet, some private investors think there's no time like the present to take advantage of a market in freefall.

Overall, homes sales have plunged to record lows. However, the percentage of investors in the market is edging up, according to DataQuick Information Systems, a real estate information service.

Real estate investors should not expect a return to the no-money-down days, which means they already have cash on the line as soon as they buy. But remember what Warren Buffett says, "the fact that a market is not turning around in the next year isn't significant. If you wait long enough, the market has always gone up since the days of the caveman."

What do you think? Is now the right time to invest in real estate? We'd love to get your opinion on that. Go ahead and click the "comment" link below and sound off.

The number of Bay Area homeowners in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure spiked this spring, as more people found themselves unable to make their mortgage payments or sell for enough money to cover their loans.

A total of 2,910 homeowners in the nine-county Bay Area got "notices of default"' from their mortgage lenders in the April-through-June period, a 37 percent increase from the same time in 2005, according to a report issued recently from DataQuick Information Systems.

But in Santa Clara County, where home prices have held up better than in most other counties, the increase was the second-lowest in the Bay Area and second-lowest in the state. Five hundred thirty homeowners received default notices in the second quarter, up 14.5 percent from a year earlier.

A smaller proportion of homeowners face foreclosure in California than in most other states, largely because home values have risen quickly enough here that they can sell at a profit. But experts said the spike in defaults suggests that as home prices flatten or drop and higher interest rates squeeze household budgets, even more Californians will slide toward foreclosure in the coming months.

Notices of default are the first step in the foreclosure process.

Statewide, the number of homeowners in default reached 20,752, a 67 percent increase from the second quarter of 2005, when default rates hovered near historic lows. It was the steepest increase in at least 14 years, DataQuick said.

San Mateo County saw defaults increase 51 percent, to 222 homeowners. In Alameda County there was a 42 percent increase, to 649. Santa Cruz stayed flat from last year, at 73.

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Mountain View is located in the heart of the Silicon Valley, just 10 miles north of San Jose and 35 miles south of San Francisco. The City is home to 70,708 residents and to many nationally and internationally known corporations. Mountain View covers 12 square miles, with an average elevation of 97 feet.

Mountain View is located in the heart of the Silicon Valley, just 10 miles north of San Jose and 35 miles south of San Francisco. The City is home to 70,708 residents and to many nationally and internationally known corporations. Mountain View covers 12 square miles, with an average elevation of 97 feet.

Learn more about Mountain View…

Saratoga is located 26 miles east of the Pacific Coast, ten miles southwest of San Jose and fifty miles south of San Francisco.  The city is situated in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains at an elevation of 500 feet, with a population of nearly 30,000.

Saratoga's Mediterranean-like climate is typical of coastal northern California with year-round mild temperatures.  Rainfall averages 29 inches annually and usually occurs between November and April.  Humidity is moderate to low.

Learn more about Saratoga…

The County of Santa Clara, also referred to as "Silicon Valley," is unique because of its combination of physical attractiveness and economic diversity.  With its numerous natural amenities and one of the highest standards of living in the country, the County has long been considered one of the best areas in the United States in which to live and work.

The County's population of nearly 1.7 million is one of the largest in the state, following Los Angeles, San Diego and Orange Counties, and the largest of the nine Bay Area counties.  Its population constitutes about one fourth of the Bay Area's total population.

There are 15 cities including Campbell, Cupertino, Gilroy, Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Los Gatos, Milpitas, Monte Sereno, Morgan Hill, Mountain View, Palo Alto, San Jose, Santa Clara, Saratoga, and Sunnyvale ranging from Palo Alto to the north, to Gilroy in the south.  San Jose is the largest city in the County, with a population of nearly 900,000, and is the administrative site of County Government.  A significant portion of the county's land area is unincorporated ranch and farmland.  Nearly 92% of the population lives in cities.

The latest 2000 census reports put the Median value of owner-occupied housing in Santa Clara County at $446,400, compared to the California state Median value of $211,500.