STOCKTON - Existing-home sales are
picking up momentum in San Joaquin County.
Pending sales jumped from 392 in November
to 459 last month countywide, a 17 percent increase, according
to figures from the latest Coldwell Banker Grupe-TrendGraphix
sales report, based on Multiple Listing Service data.
That compares with a monthly low for the
year of 257 in September.
Meanwhile, the median selling price
continued to slip, falling to $293,000, the first time the
countywide median has been less than $300,000 since April 2004,
when the median selling price stood at $290,000.
"Price is king," said Jerry Abbott,
president and co-owner of Coldwell Banker Grupe, Stockton.
Foreclosures are accounting for about 70
percent of the monthly sales, he said, and investors are
accounting for about half the buyers.
But unlike in the real estate boom years,
these investors aren't "flippers" - buyers looking to resell in
a year or two to cash in on fast-rising equity. Now they are
looking for long-term investments, he said, and prices are low
enough that monthly rental fees basically can cover the mortgage
payments.
Lower interest rates also are drawing
buyers, Abbott said.
According to federal mortgage giant
Freddie Mac, the average interest rate on a 30-year, fixed-rate
mortgage fell last week to 5.87 percent nationally, down from
6.07 percent the previous week.
Ben Balsbaugh, residential sales manager
for PMZ Real Estate in Stockton, said his office is starting to
see multiple offers on very well-priced homes - typically
bank-owned foreclosures.
"However, even the traditional homes that
are well-priced are seeing action," he said. "Open houses are
getting busier, which is always a good sign."
Abbott said that since November, asset
managers who control bank-owned foreclosure homes have lowered
prices aggressively, and foreclosure homes are selling at about
95 percent of asking prices.
Getting as many as four or five offers on
a foreclosure house is almost commonplace these days, he said.
"They've really got them priced right,"
he said.
Contact reporter Bruce Spence at (209)
943-8581 or bspence@recordnet.com.
