Selling a home in San Jose

Bidding depends on the area

measured: 24 months

Of the 10 San Jose guides that sold furthest over asking (at least 10 sales each), 9 are in West San Jose, led by Moreland West & Hathaway Park, Lynbrook and San Tomas Park & Westmont, the top three a typical 7.0% to 7.5% over. Cambrian’s seven guides ran 1.6% to 3.7% over. In seven of Willow Glen’s nine guides the typical sale closed at asking or within 0.4% of it, and in Evergreen Estates & Meadowlands, counting all home types, it closed 0.9% under (houses alone, 0.3% under). We price from your area’s record, not the city’s.

Over asking, neighborhood by neighborhood

Measure E and the $2.3 million line

city rule

San Jose adds a city transfer tax of $3.30 per $1,000 to the county’s $1.10, plus Measure E on sales over $2.3 million: 0.75% of the whole price up to $5 million, 1% from $5 million to $10 million and 1.5% above that. A sale at exactly $2,300,000 owes $10,120 in all; at $2,300,001 it owes $27,372. From July 1, 2025 to October 27, 2026, 109 San Jose sales closed between $2,250,001 and $2,300,000, and 42 between $2,300,001 and $2,350,000.

By local custom the seller pays the county tax and the buyer and seller split the city taxes; all of it is negotiable, and the purchase contract decides. If your price could land near the line, we plan for it before you list.

San Jose transfer tax and Measure E

Flood zones, led by Willow Glen

measured: 4% of lots

4,363 of San Jose’s 122,664 lots zoned single-family (R-1) (4%) have their center in a FEMA high-risk flood zone, most of them in shallow-flooding zone AO. The three guides with the most are in Willow Glen: Willow Glen South & Lincoln Glen (648 lots, 29%), River Glen & The Willows (516, 27%) and North Willow Glen & Gardner (329, 22%). If the house itself is in an A or V zone, lenders on federally backed mortgages require flood insurance, so we order a flood zone determination for the address before launch.

Flood and fire zones by neighborhood

Foothill lots and fire zones

measured: 3% of lots

3,167 of those R-1 lots (3%) are at least partly in a CAL FIRE fire hazard severity zone, 1,323 High and 1,844 Moderate; none are Very High. Piedmont Hills & Sierramont (264), East Foothills (238) and Almaden Country Club (224) have the most High-zone lots. Almaden Country Club also has the largest median lot of the guides with at least 150 single-family lots: 10,910 sq ft, against 6,410 citywide. Depending on the zone and the kind of area, a fire zone can bring stricter building standards for additions, defensible-space rules and a line on the seller’s natural hazard disclosure; the city’s building department can say which apply to a specific address, and we line up the disclosures before you list.

Lots, flood and fire zones by neighborhood

Eichlers in Fairglen and beyond

records and our sales

A National Register study counts 484 Eichlers in seven San Jose tracts, in Willow Glen and the city’s western district, and the Fairglen Additions (218 homes from 1959–61) were listed in 2019. A National Register listing doesn’t by itself stop a private owner from remodeling, but it can bring added review when a project needs a discretionary city approval, so buyers who plan changes will ask. Since April 2018 we’ve listed 13 San Jose homes whose listings described them as Eichlers or mid-century homes; 11 closed over the final list price.

Which Eichlers are historic · Selling an Eichler

Houses, condos and townhomes

measured: 29% of sales

In the two years to October 27, 2026, 3,029 condos and townhomes sold in San Jose, against 7,340 houses. The typical condo sold for $680K, 0.3% under asking (34% sold over); townhomes for $1.04M, 0.4% over (56%); houses for $1.68M, 2.0% over (63%). In Downtown San Jose, where 7 of 128 sales were houses, the typical sale closed 2.1% under asking. A condo or townhome is priced against its own kind, with the HOA documents ready up front.

Condo and townhome prices