While housing prices are dropping rapidly across the country, San Jose homes for sale are pretty much retaining their value. The average sale price of a single-family home in the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara area is $566,000 – which is more than the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont area ($538,100) and more than the Anaheim-Santa Ana-Irvine area ($498,000). This past September, the San Jose homes for sale listing prices were increasing, while inventory dropped 6.4%, proving that this region has some of the most desirable houses.

San Jose homes for sale first saw an increase in prices in the late nineties, when the surge of high-tech jobs drove up demand for housing. As the tenth most populous city in the nation, San Jose quickly assumed the title “Capital of Silicon Valley.” The plethora of well-paying area jobs includes Adobe Systems, BEA Systems, Cisco, SunPower and eBay headquarters, as well as major production facilities for Flextronics, Hewlett-Packard, IBM, Hitachi and Lockheed Martion. In addition to having a number of job opportunities, the pleasant weather and stock of newly constructed mansion estates, has ensured that San Jose homes for sale retain their value.

According to Trulia.com, the lowest prices on San Jose homes for sale can be found in Edenvale, South San Jose, Alum Rock, Berryessa and North San Jose, where the average listing price is less than $378,000. Downtown San Jose, Cambrian Park and West San Jose range from $566,000 – $692,000, and Evergreen homes can be purchased for $692,000 – $787,000. The most expensive San Jose homes for sale are situated in Willow Glen, a walkable community with many local amenities, and Almaden Valley, which attracts scientists, athletes, Silicon Valley executives and recreationists.

As you may have heard, the Federal Government has extended its $8,000 tax credit for first-time homebuyers through April 2010. Additionally, they have extended a $6,500 tax credit to people who have lived in their current homes for at least 5 consecutive years. Their new amendment has also boosted the income limits to $125,000 for an individual or $225,000 for couples. This is great news for homebuyers looking at San Jose homes for sale.

In addition to these federal programs, the City of San Jose offers a number of homeownership programs to help potential San Jose homes for sale buyers. The Teacher Homebuyer Program is offered to full-time public school teachers and credentialed staff who has a minimum credit score of 600, does not currently own a home and who has an income that does not exceed 120% of the median for Santa Clara County.  The loan amount ranges from $35,000 – $50,000 on a home costing less than $712,500. A similar program is put in place for San Jose State University staff members and employees.

The Building Equity & Growth in Neighborhoods (BEGIN) program offers downpayment assistance with varying loan amounts in specific developments for low to moderate income first time buyers of San Jose homes for sale. The developments include: new two and three bedroom Taylor Morrison condos at Old Oakland Road and Hedding Street; one and two bedroom KB Home condos at Auzerais Avenue and Sunol Street; three bedroom Summerhill Homes townhomes at San Carlos Avenue and Muller Place; and three bedroom Neighborhood Housing Services Silicon Valley condos at W. Alma and S. Almaden avenues.

The Welcome HOME program, which provided downpayment loans with 3% interest up to $25,000, closed as of 10/21/09, when the funds were exhausted. Similarly, there is no longer downpayment assistance for San Jose State University employees and staff members. Even though some of the initiatives have dried up, there are still ample opportunities to save thousands of dollars on San Jose homes for sale.

San Jose homes for sale in Atherton feature some of California’s most prestigious mansions. In this 4.6-square-mile stretch between Redwood City and Menlo Park, you’ll find Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd’s home, as well as eBay CEO Meg Whitman’s estate. Over 24 of Google’s highest paid employees have also roosted in Atherton, according to the Wall Street Journal.

One may wonder how the recession hits a place like Atherton, where San Jose homes for sale are delivered to new homeowners for an average of $2.78 million. You may look at data from 2008, when these same San Jose homes for sale would have sold for $4.15 million and say that even millionaires must have been slow to spend during the recession. You may also look at the fact that 60 houses sold from January through September 2009, which is down from 70 during that period in 2008 and say that no place in America is immune to the housing slump.

However, these lower prices on Atherton’s San Jose homes for sale has been luring Silicon Valley’s elites back to the Atherton market since May and things are beginning to heat up. Builder Jeffrey Wise says he sold a 10,000-square-foot home for $14 million last month — before it even went on the market. Additionally, there have still been 12 homes that sold for over $5 million, with 10 of those San Jose homes for sale swept up after May. Real estate experts say out-of-town exectives are coming to San Jose from Redmond, Washington and Hopkinton, Massachusetts to buy their luxury dream homes for $8.3 – $9.8 million. Google executives like Neal Mohan are also paying over $5 million for homes in Atherton too, which means these San Jose homes for sale will still be in high demand throughout 2010 and beyond.

The top of their list is Stockton-Lodi, California, which saw a 137.5% increase since last year. Stockton-Lodi is then followed by Las Vegas NV (109.5%), Riverside-San Bernardino CA (102.8%), Oakland CA (87.9%), Fort Myers-Cape Coral FL (78.2%) and then – coming in at #6 – is San Jose homes for sale. Sacramento and Orange County also made the top 10 list. It seems more than half of the most coveted locations are situated in either California or Florida.

This could mean that more people are looking at San Jose homes for sale, expecting to find housing prices plummeting in ritzy neighborhoods. In fact, Realtor.com predicts that places like Fresno, Stockton and San Jose will continue to drop prices throughout 2010 to attract buyers. The increase in search activity could also be related to people relocating here for employment or retirement too. After all, it is the “Capital of Silicon Valley” and CNN Money Magazine did call San Jose the #7 “Best Place for a Healthy Retirement” (due to its plethora of wineries, scenic views, bike paths and highly rated hospitals.) It could also mean that nosy homeowners are keeping an eye on their equity by looking up what San Jose homes for sale are priced at in their neighborhoods.

Willow Glen is a historic, scenic and upscale part of Silicon Valley featuring high-end San Jose homes for sale just a short drive from downtown. Even though Willow Glen has technically been part of San Jose for 75 years, residents will often say they are from Willow Glen, not San Jose. There are many unique neighborhoods situated in Willow Glen, which is considered one of the most “walkable” communities in the country, full of over 300 restaurants, shops and service centers.

You’ll find San Jose homes for sale in Palm Haven, a Willow Glen neighborhood that is close to the downtown Willow Glen shopping area. Here, you’ll see rows of royal and fan palm trees and diverse architectural styles ranging from Mediterranean to Craftsman. Large San Jose homes for sale can be found in Cherry Acres and Dry Creek Road, where quiet winding roads, big trees and spacious lots are the standard. Affordable San Jose homes for sale invite first time homebuyers in Hacienda Gardens and Canoas Garden. Lincoln Glen offers ramblers and traditional homes with willow trees in the yards.

The median price of Willow Glen, San Jose homes for sale has increased 9.6% since 2008 to a median price of $543,100 in 2009. In October, the median sale price was $595,000 – up from $565,000 in September. There have been 1,027 house sales in October, down just slightly from 1,066 in September, but up 17.4% from last year. There are still 2,053 active San Jose homes for sale in Willow Glen, which is up 64.4% from last year. Most houses are on the market for about 53 days and sell for 100.8% of the original list price.