Housing market on the upswing

By Stephen Crane | Posted: Friday, July 11, 2014  / the Calaveras Enterprise

Bank-owned properties drying up

A sense of cautious optimism rippled through Calaveras County a few weeks back when the county assessor reported an increase in property values.

After years of decline and general gloom, the reported increase was a confirmation of what those in the property business already knew.

“The assessor’s job is to figure out property values as of Jan. 1,” said Bill Schmiett, a real estate broker with Mountain Ranch Realty Inc. “So it’s kind of old news at this point.”

According to the assessor’s roll, property values increased just over 6 percent. But some home brokers have seen an even larger increase in home values that are showing up on the market.

“The pendulum is indeed swinging back up,” said Tammy Dillashaw, a broker with Century 21 Tri-Dam Realty in Angels Camp. “I would say our values are probably up 10 percent.”

“It’s gotten much better; values are going up,” said Linda Frater, a Realtor at Country Oaks Realty in Valley Springs.

As with the old Realtor’s adage of “location, location, location,” not everybody is quite as confident in the housing market of Calaveras County.

“I don’t think I’m quite as optimistic as far as the assessor’s report and as far as the properties that are selling,” said Charlene Winkler, the broker and owner of Western Realty in San Andreas. “I’m not seeing that big increase like they’re saying. … We’re not seeing as many sales. We’re not seeing multiple offers. We’re actually seeing, on the amount of properties that are coming on and the amount getting reduced, there are more getting reduced than properties coming on.”

But for real estate brokers in other parts of the county, the properties are coming in – and going fast.

“Anything under $200,000 is just flying off,” said Dillashaw.

A big difference brokers are seeing this year is the increasing price point for sales.

“This year, the value range is probably more in the $300,000 to $400,000 range, where last year it was more like $200,000,” Dillashaw added.

“In 2013, the active market was under $200,000, and this year, we’re seeing it active under $300,000,” said Gloria Correy, an associate broker with Barry Ward Realty in Arnold who’s been in the real estate business since 1981. “We’re not into the number of sales as much as we were last year, but the prices have increased.”

Correy and her colleagues keep close tabs on pricing and “figured we reached bottom last year in March,” she said.

The Bay Area’s housing market bottomed out in early 2012 and has grown by leaps and bounds ever since – with gains finally surging past prerecession levels in the first quarter of 2014.

In Calaveras County, the housing market’s pricing trends tend to lag up to a year behind the Bay Area.

“Typically, our market follows the Bay Area market by six months to a year,” said Dillashaw.

Since the county’s market bottomed out in 2013, prices have finally started inching back up.

“I think Calaveras County is one of those places where you get a bump and a plateau, and then a bump and a plateau,” said Schmiett. “And it seemed like that on the way down as well.”

Most in the housing industry don’t anticipate housing prices in Calaveras County to reach that prerecession level regardless of the increase, but any increase is good news.

“I don’t think the prices are going to be as high as what they were when the bubble burst, but they’re definitely a lot better,” said Frater.

Another rumor that’s making the rounds in real estate circles is the number of bank-owned properties obtained in foreclosure proceedings that have yet to make it to market.

“I keep hearing rumors there’s a big stash (of bank-owned properties) out there, but it’s not evidenced up here (in the Arnold area),” said Correy. “We still have a few here and there, but it’s not like it was a year, year-and-a-half ago.”

In the Angels Camp area, Dillashaw has seen a similar trend.

“They’ve kind of dried up,” she said. “I keep hearing they’re holding some back and we may get another influx of those, but so far, there’s just not many out there. And short sales have really dried up.”

In the Valley Springs area, some homes are still sitting vacant, which implies that “they haven’t been released yet,” according to Frater.

“I think the banks are holding them so they can get a higher price for (their properties),” she said. “If they flood the market, it’s going to change the price right now (by lowering values).”

For now, real estate brokers are simply enjoying the upward swing of the housing-price pendulum, particularly after the last few years of the recession’s downward spiral and subsequent instability in the housing market.