Central California Housing Market Sluggish
The California housing market isn’t spectacular, and in the Central Valley city of Lodi, it’s downright sluggish.
But compared with nearly every other city in the area, sluggish is actually looking pretty good right about now.
Average home prices actually rose in Lodi in both February and March, up to about $400,000 before dipping in April to $350,000.
The city is the only one in the region to see increases in consecutive months this year.
Prices in Manteca, Modesto and Tracy have shown steady declines in 2007. In Stockton, prices have hovered around $350,000. In Galt, they’ve soared and sunk between $450,000 and $350,000 in the first four months of the year.
Few think Lodi has cracked the housing market slump yet and that may actually take some time. Kevin Fritz, who buys and sells houses as a hobby, said he’s had to lower the price on most of his houses.
“It was easy (to flip homes) three years ago — now it’s a challenge. But I still see that there’s buyers out there,” said Fritz, unswayed by recent California mortgage broker and lender problems sweeping the state.
Fritz has battled the housing slump by posting numerous “for sale” signs, hosting lots of open houses and keeping his yards in top shape. Being flexible on the home price has also helped, he said.
“The houses are still selling,” said Fritz. “You’ve just got to listen to all offers.”
Buyers, sellers and real estate professionals say there is activity in Lodi’s housing market, largely due to the small city’s high quality of life.
“Lodi is doing better than the rest of the cities in the county, bar none,” said Jan Sherman, who’s sold real estate in Lodi for 23 years.
Safe and quiet neighborhoods, good schools, parks and a ring of winegrapes all make Lodi a desirable spot for prospective California mortgage seekers, Sherman noted.
Clean air is another big plus, said Art Carachure, who’s hoping to buy a home in Lodi.
“The area’s pretty nice — keep it that way, don’t destroy it,” said Carachure, who lives in Long Beach and was surveying a couple homes for sale on South Lee Avenue earlier this week.
Currently there are 485 homes on the market between Lodi and Woodbridge, said Paul Mertz, a past president of the Lodi Association of Realtors.
That’s about a nine or 10 month supply of inventory, but quite a bit less than in Stockton where many existing and new homes are still on the market.
Jaime Alvayay, professor of real estate finance and investments at California State University, Sacramento said he doesn’t see the state’s or the region’s housing slump disappearing anytime soon — especially now that cheap home loans are harder to find.
But he said it’s not unusual for a city like Lodi, which hasn’t seen the extent of mortgage loan defaults plaguing other cities, to fair a bit better than its neighbors during a housing downturn.
“I’m not surprised because these markets are essentially local,” Alvayay said, noting Seattle and Portland have each seen significant growth in home sales this year.
“People tend to talk about the housing market as one single market for the entire nation. But that’s not the case.”
SOURCE: Lodi News-Sentinel