No, that was not a typo. Stanislaus County real estate is a hot commodity today. Homes priced below $200,000 are receiving multiple offers, sometimes over 20 offers per home, and sales prices thousands over the listing price. REO’s (bank owned properties) currently comprise only 17% of the active listings on the market in Turlock. The other 80+% of the homes are individual sellers.
But that’s not to say that this market doesn’t have its challenges. Even though the vast majority of homes on the market in Turlock are individual sellers, many of those are short sales, sellers who owe more on the property than it is worth. This creates a challenge for buyers who want to purchase a home only to experience frustrating delays due to the seller’s existing lender lack of response in approving or denying the sale. These escrows can drag out six months or more while the banks shuffle the files from one department to another, decide whether this is the best deal for them and approve the sale or deny the sale and take their chances on the resale value as a foreclosure.
So what does all this mean for a prospective buyer today? Great values and monthly payments that can be lower than rent. With interest rates at the 5.5% range and prices at approximately half of the highs in recent years, this is an ideal time to purchase a home if your plan is to stay in it for five years or more. Real estate markets are cyclical and this one will be no different than the others. While there may be people that say we will never see prices at the level we’ve experienced in the last few years, most experts agree that the demand for housing in California, and our area especially, in the coming years will far outpace the supply of new homes being built. And with more buyers than homes available prices will rise.
Whether you currently own a home or are contemplating purchasing one in the future, we need to remember the real purpose of owning a home. Shelter, a place to live, raise a family, a sanctuary to get away from the fast-paced world……whichever your definition, we need to keep this in perspective. As a get-rich-quick speculative investment it’s pretty risky, but as a long term investment you and your loved ones can enjoy for years to come, there are few better investments.
This information was provided by www.cbendsley.com.
This Week(automatically updated to current date) in Turlock Real Estate
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