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By , June 17, 2010 7:37 pm

The Morgan Hill real estate market, a subsidiary of the larger Silicon Valley and Santa Cruz housing markets, saw a slight decline in some sectors in April, despite the nationwide trend towards recovery. According to a May 20, 2010 article from the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal, “Bay Area home sales fell slightly below the year-ago level and remained well below average in April, according to a report Thursday by MDA DataQuick. In April a total of 7,003 homes closed escrows in the nine-county Bay Area, up 0.2 percent from 6,992 in March but down 1.9 percent from 7,139 in April 2009.” The piece went on to state that “The median price in Santa Clara County in April was $489,000, up 20.70 percent from April 2009’s median of $405,000. There were 1,656 sales, up from the year-ago period’s 1,606 sales.”

The relative strength of home prices in Morgan Hills and other portions of Santa Clara County can be at least partially attributed to lower interest rates. According to a June 3, 2010 press released from the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors, “Record-low interest rates continue to fuel the Santa Clara County housing market, boosting home prices and spurring brisk sales. The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.78 percent with 0.7 point for the week ending May 27, down from the previous week when it averaged 4.84 percent, according to Freddie Mac.” The piece, composed by SCCAOR President Karl Lee, went on to say that “Rock-bottom interest rates and lower housing prices make homes more affordable than they have been in years. In Santa Clara County, multiple offers are common and many properties are snapped up within a few days.”

The Morgan Hills real estate market, along with the larger Bay Area, saw a shift towards foreclosures on more expensive properties in the most recent tracking period. According to a June 1, 2010 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “Foreclosures are going upscale across the Bay Area. Nearly 1,000 homes valued above $730,000 were repossessed by banks in the nine-county region in each of the past two years, according to a Chronicle review of public records compiled by MDA DataQuick, a San Diego research firm.”