Built in 2006, the City Heights building at 175 West St. James offers a pretty unique combination of downtown San Jose, high-rise living at extremely affordable prices.  Compared to the other new condo towers of the Axis, 88, and three-sixty, City Heights has comparable nearly new units selling at 40% less.

Even though all the buildings were built in 2006-2007, they’re all still offering a large number of available units from the builders.  Being just a year older than the others, City Heights already has a number of distressed units coming back on the market while the builder is still selling full-priced new units.

Some of these distressed units are short sales so the list prices are not reliable indicators of actual market prices.  But, there are also some REO units being listed at the same prices as the short sale listings.  So, there are definitely real opportunities for either first time home buyers or investors.  Of course, being distressed means that there are some hurdles for the buyer that require a bit of patience and a good amount

of assistance from a persistent real estate agent.

Otherwise, the value is pretty legitimate.  Nearly new 1 bedroom units are going for the low $200K while the builder is still selling the same new units at about $350K.  Some may debate whether this is a good time to buy, but the numbers speak volumes.  With 20% down, monthly mortgage with HOA is about $1200 with a standard amortizing loan.  Rent at comparable units are running around $1800.  Actually, I’m pretty hard pressed to find any 1 bedroom unit renting for $1200 in San Jose.  So, the savings or investment returns are quite significant, providing a powerful cushion for any medium term fluctuations in prices.

If you’re interested in finding out more about these units or would like to see the financial returns analysis, please contact me for more info.