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San Jose Median Home Price Drops Slightly To $1.2 Million

SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) – For the first time in seven years, housing prices have dropped in San Jose, albeit slightly.

A new report from real estate marketplace Zillow shows that housing prices dropped 0.2 percent in San Jose from one year ago. The median home price is now just over $1.2 million.

Gary Shapiro, a senior broker with The Shaprio Group, called the downward trend a "trickle," not a sign of a real estate bubble on the verge of bursting.

"It's part of the normal real estate cycle, so it did not surprise us at all," Shapiro told KPIX 5. "We've had seven years in a row of appreciation."

Homeowners had mixed reactions to the new numbers. Patricia Love, who owns a condo in San Jose, said she hopes the numbers continue to decline, to allow for more renters to buy homes in Silicon Valley's sky-high housing market.

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"I mean, even with people who make six figures, it's still hard to a buy a home right now," she lamented. "Hopefully if [prices] continue to drop a little bit, there's hope."

But Dominic Detar said he hopes the decline is only temporary, and that the home that he owns in San Jose continues to climb in value.

"I think it's exciting," he said. "We're number one in the country, so I think that's good."

Shapiro said the drop in home prices has created a buyer's market in Silicon Valley.

"Most houses are selling right around their asking price, a little above, or a little below," he said.

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But he also cautioned that the drop is likely only temporary. "The long-term projection is very positive for this valley," he said. "I really feel that the market is just taking a pause and it'll end up appreciating again in no time."

Shapiro said the market is moving slower than it has in previous years and appreciation will likely not exceed the single digits like in 2015 and 2016.

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