Modest Housing Recovery

“Housing is back,” according to Valerie Moon of the Calaveras County Association of Realtors.

More than five years after the housing bubble burst and prices collapsed, Calaveras County housing prices are rising. Between rising demand and limited supply, home prices are making real gains for the first time since 2006, Moon said.

First-quarter sales for Calaveras showed an increase in median property values by 17.5 percent over the last quarter and a 24.5 percent increase over this time last year, according to association data. Multiple listing service data suggests the median home value in Calaveras County is $198,000. Six months ago, that number was holding steady between $150,000 and $160,000.

“This recovery is ready, and the trend is expected to continue with muted gains in line with interest rates, inflation and county employment opportunities,” Moon said.

According to Moon, the number of houses for sale in the county is at its lowest level in a decade and for the first time in more than five years, the economics of the market are no longer in favor of the buyer in most places. This hard data is owed to less new construction, fewer foreclosures and prices still too low to satisfy many potential sellers.

“Inventory is tight,” Moon said, adding the low inventory price pushing factor is partly due to a known shadow inventory of foreclosure and short sale properties being held off the market by banks. Instead of placing distressed properties on the market for sale, that shadow inventory is being held or packaged for bulk investor buying, Moon said.

“Distressed properties are still out there,” she continued. “We’re just not seeing them as part of our inventory right now.”

With low prices and historically low interest rates, homes are more affordable than they’ve been in 40 years, Moon said, adding it’s important to attract new business to this county in order to keep the recovery on track. Attracting new business will bring families back to the area and the services to support those families will follow, she said.

Data from the Calaveras County Association of Realtors is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed, as the data released does not include private sales, trustee sales at auction or other transactions recorded outside of the Multiple Listing Service.