sell · saratoga
Selling a home in Saratoga
In Saratoga, 60% of sales since January 2024 closed over asking, with a median overbid of $240K, but how far over depends on the neighborhood, and 11% of houses have part of the lot in a CAL FIRE High or Very High fire hazard zone. Here’s what the numbers say, what’s different about selling here, and what we’ve sold in town.
saratoga by the numbers
What the Saratoga market says right now
Saratoga closed 279 sales in the last 12 months, at the 3rd-highest median price of the 25 cities with 100+ sales in the last 12 months. Median price per square foot reached $1,614 in the three months ending February 2025, its highest three-month reading so far; July–September 2026 came in at $1,439.
- median sale price$4.00Mlast 12 months, 279 sales; Silicon Valley $1.65M
- over asking60%of 774 sales since January 2024; median overbid $240K
- $3M–5M68%of 417 sales in that band since January 2024 closed over asking
- best closing monthMarch65% over asking, against 39% in January; May is busiest
Source: closed MLS sales, Boyenga Team analysis, October 2026. Recent 12 months = October 2025 to September 2026; over and under asking = January 2024 to September 2026; best month = averaged over 2012–2025. See Saratoga by the numbers.
what’s different here
What sellers in Saratoga should plan for
What we plan for on Saratoga listings.
Fire zones and the hillside
measured: 11% of houses
574 Saratoga houses (6%) have part of the lot in a CAL FIRE Very High fire hazard zone and 490 (5%) in a High zone (each house counted by the highest zone touching its lot), most of them in Saratoga Foothills and Montalvo & Horseshoe. Depending on the zone, that can bring defensible-space rules, stricter building standards for additions and a line on the natural hazard disclosure, so we check your parcel early. Nine of our 14 Saratoga neighborhoods have no house in a High or Very High zone.
Bidding depends on the neighborhood
measured: 24 months
Over the last two years, counting all home types, Prides Crossing, Blue Hills (Azule) and Saratoga Woods sold furthest over asking of the neighborhoods with 10+ sales, a typical 5% to 7% over. In Sobey & Marshall Lane, Saratoga Foothills, Quito & El Quito Park and Montalvo & Horseshoe the typical sale closed at asking, and in Saratoga Village 0.5% under. Houses alone did better in Saratoga Village (2.5% over) and Quito & El Quito Park (2.1% over). A citywide figure won’t price your house, so we start from your neighborhood’s record.
Valley lots and foothill acres
measured: 12,960 sq ft median
The median Saratoga house was built in 1965 and has 2,665 square feet on a 12,960 sq ft lot. In Fruitvale, Austin Way & Hidden Hill, Montalvo & Horseshoe, Saratoga Foothills and Shadow Oaks the median lot is near an acre; elsewhere it’s 10,000 to 15,000 sq ft. 10% of houses were built in 2000 or later, from 19% in Montalvo & Horseshoe to 2% in Prides Crossing. A foothill acre and a 1950s valley-floor house draw different buyers.
City, county or San Jose
our Census map check
ZIP 95070 reaches well past the city. By our Census map check, only about 45% of its land is inside the City of Saratoga; about 54% is unincorporated county land, most of it hillside and parkland, where county planning applies and wells and septic systems are worth checking. A small east edge near Quito Road and Prospect Road is in San Jose, which adds its own transfer tax. We confirm the parcel’s jurisdiction before launch.
City historic sites
city records
81 Saratoga house parcels are flagged as City historic sites in the City’s parcel records, most of them in Saratoga Village (22), Golden Triangle (19) and Montalvo & Horseshoe (17). If yours is one, buyers who plan changes will ask what the City allows, so we gather its records on your parcel before you list.
Timing and transfer tax
measured and county
March closings sold over asking most often (65%), January least (39%). Saratoga has no city transfer tax; the Santa Clara County tax is $1.10 per $1,000, so $4,400 on a $4 million sale. Who pays it is negotiable, and the purchase contract decides.
our sales
Homes we’ve listed and sold in Saratoga
Since 2012 we’ve matched 8 Saratoga sales to MLS records: 4 homes we listed and 4 where we represented the buyer. The most recent homes we listed:
sold May 2025 · saratoga
$4.70M
20932 Sarahills Dr · Saratoga Foothills
4 bd · 3 ba · 3,883 sq ft
6.0% under the final list price of $5.00MListed by the Boyenga Team at Compass
sold Dec 2021 · saratoga
$2.45M
13398 Christie Drive · Sobey & Marshall Lane
4 bd · 2 ba · 1,764 sq ft
22.6% over the final list price of $2.00MListed by the Boyenga Team at Compass
sold Oct 2016 · saratoga
$3.60M
19781 Wild Oak Way · Montalvo & Horseshoe
4 bd · 3 ba · 4,294 sq ft
2.7% under the final list price of $3.70MListed by the Boyenga Team
sold Apr 2015 · saratoga
$1.45M
14644 Fieldstone Drive · Saratoga Village
2 bd · 3 ba · 2,094 sq ft
11.7% over the final list price of $1.30MListed by the Boyenga Team
For all 4 homes we listed here, the sold record shows the final list price: 2 closed at or above it, 2 of them over asking. The final list price is the asking price after any price changes. Source: closed MLS records, read October 27, 2026.
See all 8 on our Saratoga sales map
Neighborhoods with our sales (listing and buyer side): Sobey & Marshall Lane (2), Saratoga Foothills (1), Golden Triangle (1), Parker Ranch (1), Montalvo & Horseshoe (1), Saratoga Village (1), Saratoga Woods (1).
our plan
How we’d sell your Saratoga home
The same Property Nerd plan we run on every listing, tuned to Saratoga.
Price against the right sales
We start with the closest recent sales in your neighborhood and of your kind of house, then read the competition that week. In Saratoga that means pricing to your neighborhood’s record and your kind of lot, from a valley-floor tract to a foothill acre.
Prepare what buyers notice
Paint, light, landscaping and staging, budgeted in the Prep Lab, with Compass Concierge to front eligible costs. On older and hillside houses, inspections up front show what’s worth fixing before buyers find it.
Disclose early
Inspections and disclosures ready before launch, so buyers make offers on facts. In a High or Very High fire zone we check the defensible-space rules for your parcel early, and on county land we check for a well and septic system.
Launch on purpose
A private or Coming Soon start if it fits, then the full launch; the Launch Lab shows the plan. March closings sold over asking most often, so a spring sale is planned in winter.
Negotiate and close
We compare offers on price, terms and certainty, then run escrow to closing.
The Saratoga data series
our own analysis
More from the series
by price and place
Seller tools
plan your numbers
Looking for an agent rather than a plan? Meet Eric & Janelle Boyenga · Saratoga neighborhood guides
questions
Questions Saratoga sellers ask us
How often do Saratoga homes sell over asking?
From January 2024 to September 2026, 60% of 774 Saratoga sales closed above the final list price, with a median overbid of $240K. 32% closed below it, with a median discount of $127K. In the $3M–5M band, 68% of 417 sales closed over asking. Across Silicon Valley, 60% closed over asking.
When is the best time to sell in Saratoga?
Averaged over 2012–2025, Saratoga closings in March sold over asking most often (65%) and January closings least often (39%). May has the most closings, about 11% of the year’s sales. Because closing comes about a month after the offer, plan a spring sale in winter.
Is my Saratoga house in a fire hazard zone?
About 11% of Saratoga’s houses have part of the lot in a CAL FIRE High or Very High fire hazard severity zone: 574 Very High and 490 High, most of them in Saratoga Foothills and Montalvo & Horseshoe. Another 395 (4%) are Moderate. Depending on the zone, that can bring defensible-space rules, stricter building standards for additions and a line on the natural hazard disclosure. We check your parcel before you list.
Is every 95070 address in the City of Saratoga?
No. About half of ZIP 95070’s land area is unincorporated county land, most of it hillside and parkland, where county planning applies and wells and septic systems are worth checking, and a small east edge near Quito Road and Prospect Road is in San Jose. We confirm the parcel’s jurisdiction on county records before you list.
My house is a City historic site. Does that matter?
81 Saratoga house parcels are flagged as City historic sites in the City’s parcel records, most of them in Saratoga Village (22), Golden Triangle (19) and Montalvo & Horseshoe (17). Buyers who plan changes will ask what the City allows, so we gather what the City has on your parcel before you list.
Does Saratoga charge a transfer tax?
Saratoga has no city transfer tax. The Santa Clara County documentary transfer tax is $1.10 per $1,000 of the sale price, so $4,400 on a $4 million sale. A home with a Saratoga address that sits in San Jose also pays San Jose’s city tax. By local custom the seller pays the county tax; all of it is negotiable, and the purchase contract decides.
What do you charge to sell a Saratoga home?
Commissions are negotiable. We offer bundled services, so ask us what’s included.
talk to a property nerd
Thinking about selling in Saratoga?
We’ll pull the closest sales to your house, walk through prep and timing, and tell you what we’d do. No pressure and no obligation.
eric boyenga dre 01254725 · janelle boyenga dre 01254724 · compass · equal housing opportunity
Thinking about selling in Saratoga? Send us a note.
Eric & Janelle Boyenga
Realtors DRE01254724 / 01254725
Realtors DRE01254724 / 01254725