Sunnyvale Community Services Annual Christmas Holiday Auction

As you may know, I serve on the board of directors for Sunnyvale Community Services (SCS), a nonprofit organization since 1970 that works to prevent hunger and homelessness for thousands of local community members. Matter of fact, I was just named its Treasurer and volunteer my time and talents.

Unfortunately, the number of struggling families and individuals in Sunnyvale has grown as the recession continues as people lost their jobs or have had their hours cut back. In fact, last year we served three times as many people as we did in 2005.

I’m contacting you today to invite you to:

• Sunnyvale Community Services Annual Christmas Holiday Auction
• 5-7:30 p.m., Thursday, December 2nd
• 725 Kifer Road, Sunnyvale, CA 94086
• Please bring an unwrapped toy or gift for a child, teen or household

The auction features delicious food and beverages as well as a chance to bid on wonderful gifts and vacation packages, all donated by local businesses and friends of SCS! Of course, all proceeds go to SCS, enabling us to provide food and financial support during the holidays and throughout the year. You can do your holiday shopping and help others at the same time by joining in this fun community event! (For a list of auction items, please visit our website.)

The auction also doubles as a Sunnyvale Chamber of Commerce mixer, so you can do your business some good as well! Remember to bring your business cards. This is a festive night of food, friends, helping out, and having fun, and I would personally love to see you there! Remember, the price of admission is a toy or gift.

If you can’t make it to the holiday auction, you can still help local families by making a financial gift to SCS. We’re striving to raise more than $500,000 during the holiday season to serve more than 8,000 individuals in the coming year. Every dollar donated makes a difference, helping to keep struggling neighbors housed and fed. (For example, a gift of $50 keeps a family sheltered for one night, and $1,000 buys 300 jars of peanut butter for hungry families.)

To donate to SCS or learn more about our services, our clients, or how our funds are used, please visit our website. You may also call me directly at 408-830-0092. I would be delighted to talk with you!

Thanks for reading!

November Silicon Valley Real Estate Market Highlights

Here are the highlights of October transactions and market comments for Santa Clara County real estate and San Mateo County real estate. Your comments and questions are always welcome. If you see something in your neighborhood that you are curious about or have a question, please don't hesitate to share with us. If you have questions or a comment, please leave them here, or feel free to contact me through my website.

> Market Overview -- The last several months has seen a continual decrease in the amount of sales in both counties, an indicator of slowing markets. Closings of single family residences (SFR) in Santa Clara County decreased and were at 780, 24.0%lower than the same month a year ago. Even though the amount of sales in San Mateo County rose a bit from September, the same general decline exists. My analysis of the transactional information reveals:

* The supply of homes available for sale (inventory), which was increasing later in the year (far longer than in most years), has now reversed course and is following historical trends in both counties. As usual for this time of year, inventory tends to drift lower. We'll see, I'm sure, a major drop-off at the end of the year as many listing agreements seem to expire on 12/31 of each year. Still, the market overall remains more positive in Santa Clara County.

* 44% of sellers in Santa Clara County get at least list price for their homes! In San Mateo County, the corresponding percentage is a bit over 39%. This is another indicator that the overall market remains stronger in Santa Clara County. Also, these indicators have drifted lower and underscore a slowing market in both counties -- usual for this time of year.

* Days of Unsold Inventory (DUI) has turned the corner and is now heading down. this could portend a market that is gaining strength and could point, if it continues, to a more positive market condition in 2011. We shall keep an eye on this important indicator. As we have discussed, DUI is conceptually the inverse of inventory turns ratio and represents a calculation using both supply and demand. A higher figure for DUI, then, means the market is becoming weaker. For October, Santa Clara County had a DUI of 70 for SFR, 87 for condos/townhouses and 193 for multi-unit properties. San Mateo County had a DUI reading of 99 for SFR's, 136 for condos/townhouses and a whopping 395 for multi-unit properties. Once again, notice that all readings were lower, hence more positive, for Santa Clara County.

> Seller Markets? -- For Santa Clara County the hottest (seller) market areas are South San Jose, East Valley (SJ), Milpitas, North Valley (SJ) and the area comprising the cities of Mountain View, Los Altos and Palo Alto. A seller's market has shorter time on the market, fewer number of homes available for sale, higher demand by buyers with a tendency to have multiple offers and sale prices generally exceeding list prices with a potential of price appreciation.

> Buyer's Markets? -- For Santa Clara County, we see buyer's markets in Almaden Valley (SJ) and Willow Glen (SJ). Almaden Valley is my current "Best Buy" area in the county. What makes a "buyers" market is the relationship of supply to demand -- simply put as higher supply and lower demand. The characteristics of a buyer's market is a longer time on the market, higher number of homes available for sale, lower demand by buyers which translates into a lower probability of multiple offers and a tendency for price stabilization or even price depreciation.

Where do I get "Seller's" and "Buyer's" market information? This is not an opinion or based on price levels but a calculation I make using the number of homes for sale (supply) and the number of sales (demand) in the prior month which results in days of unsold inventory (DUI).

> Median price situation -- Santa Clara County median price for SFR's has mainly remained flat to slightly nudging upwards. It now stands at $641,500, an increase of 8.1% from the same month a year ago. The median price for condos/townhouses was $330,000, a 8.6% drop from last year. San Mateo County's median price for SFR's was $675,000 and represented a 3.8% decrease from the same month a year ago. The median price for San Mateo County condo/townhouses was $380,000, a drop of 5.0% from last year. I continue to advise my clients NOT to use an entire county's median price level to decide whether to buy or sell or time the market. To formulate an effective strategy, I recommend the use of the supply-demand characteristics for the neighborhood under consideration.

> Short Shift? -- REO's (bank-owned homes) and short sale listings are termed "lender-controlled" transactions. Bottom line is that short sale homes sell but are a lot less apt to close. Here's a chart of the latest breakdown to illustrate my point:

You can see that short sales, comprise 25% of the available inventory and 35% of the pendings, only comprise 16% of the closings.

> Buyers get ready -- Last month I mentioned that buyers need to think about a time of year when there is historically less activity and a good time of the year to do that is when we approach and are in the holiday period of the year. We're seeing the inventory of available homes decrease and those homes remaining on the market, in all likelihood, have sellers that have a higher motivation to sell.

Need help with understanding the market in your area? Give me a call or email me for a no-obligation consultation and research to arm you with market intelligence to help you make a better, more-informed decision.


Thanks for reading my blog. I'm Tom McEvoy, Realtor with RE/MAX Santa Clara Valley -- Let me know your comments, questions, observations you may have or any future topics you'd like me to address.

Real Eats -- Tommy Toy's Restaurant, San Francisco, CA

It's not often that I my wife and I are completely impressed with all aspects of a dining experience. This happened at Tommy Toy's Cuisine Chinoise in San Francisco. There recently for a birthday celebration dinner for my wife's uncle, who turned 84, we've been raving about it ever since.

My wife's uncle chose his favorite restaurant and not having been to the restaurant before, we followed his lead and joined in having Tommy Toy's Signature Dinner.

Now, where do I start? First, we began with an appetizer and then embarked on a culinary adventure in the six-course, famous Tommy Toy's Signature Dinner. An extravaganza of excellent food, all were well prepared and expertly presented and served.

My wife's uncle is a well-known patron here which was a benefit to all of us as we were served a complimentary appetizer of deep-fried won tons filled with crab mousse served with plum sauce.

The first course of the Signature Dinner was squab and pine nuts wrapped in iceberg lettuce leaves. Delicious and crisp. This was followed by their Seafood Bisque soup served in an open coconut shell, oven-baked and covered with a flaky pastry. Simply marvelous! Then came a fresh whole Maine Lobster! This was served on a platter with a small amount of mixed greens with a vinaigrette dressing. The lobster was chopped and cooked with red and green pepper and served over a bed of delicious vermicelli noodles. Our next course was Medallions of Filet Mignon. This was served over fried rice with asparagus spears. Whole Peking Duck was presented to the table and then carved table side and served with lotus buns.

Our dessert, complimented the various flavors, textures and tastes, a Peach Mousse served in a strawberry sauce was light, cool and refreshing.

One of our guests chose two very nice wines to accompany our meal. One, a Bordeaux and the other, a Riesling, slightly sweet. Both were well-paired and enjoyed with the Signature Dinner.

Wow, if you ever get a chance to experience a fusion of Chinese and French cuisines, consider Tommy Toy's in The City!

Tommy Toy's Cuisine Chinoise
655 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
415-397-4888
Tommy Toy's Website

Thanks for reading!

Real Eats -- Tommy Toy's Restaurant, San Francisco, CA

It's not often that I my wife and I are completely impressed with all aspects of a dining experience. This happened at Tommy Toy's Cuisine Chinoise in San Francisco. There recently for a birthday celebration dinner for my wife's uncle, who turned 84, we've been raving about it ever since.

My wife's uncle chose his favorite restaurant and not having been to the restaurant before, we followed his lead and joined in having Tommy Toy's Signature Dinner.

Now, where do I start? First, we began with an appetizer and then embarked on a culinary adventure in the six-course, famous Tommy Toy's Signature Dinner. An extravaganza of excellent food, all were well prepared and expertly presented and served.

My wife's uncle is a well-known patron here which was a benefit to all of us as we were served a complimentary appetizer of deep-fried won tons filled with crab mousse served with plum sauce.

The first course of the Signature Dinner was squab and pine nuts wrapped in iceberg lettuce leaves. Delicious and crisp. This was followed by their Seafood Bisque soup served in an open coconut shell, oven-baked and covered with a flaky pastry. Simply marvelous! Then came a fresh whole Maine Lobster! This was served on a platter with a small amount of mixed greens with a vinaigrette dressing. The lobster was chopped and cooked with red and green pepper and served over a bed of delicious vermicelli noodles. Our next course was Medallions of Filet Mignon. This was served over fried rice with asparagus spears. Whole Peking Duck was presented to the table and then carved table side and served with lotus buns.


Our dessert, complimented the various flavors, textures and tastes, a Peach Mousse served in a strawberry sauce was light, cool and refreshing.

One of our guests chose two very nice wines to accompany our meal. One, a Bordeaux and the other, a Riesling, slightly sweet. Both were well-paired and enjoyed with the Signature Dinner.

Wow, if you ever get a chance to experience a fusion of Chinese and French cuisines, consider Tommy Toy's in The City!

Tommy Toy's Cuisine Chinoise
655 Montgomery Street
San Francisco, CA 94111
415-397-4888
Tommy Toy's Website

Thanks for reading!