San Benito County home sales picked up slightly in November,
bringing a little good news to a grim housing market.
HOLLISTER
San Benito County home sales picked up slightly in November, bringing a little good news to a grim housing market.
According to listing service MLS Listings, Inc., November’s closed sales increased to 20 homes from 17 in October and 16 in September. The total value of sales also increased, from around $9 million in October to $10.6 million in November.
“That’s a sign that there’s light at the end of the tunnel,” said Renee Kunz, manager of Intero Real Estate and the San Benito County Association of Realtors’ incoming president.
Kunz said things would likely continue improving in 2008, particularly with Americans’ economic outlook brightening with the coming presidential campaign.
In the past year, home prices and sales have been dropping, a fall driven in large part by a spike in mortgage foreclosures. November’s sales figures still decreased from 27 to 20 sales compared with the same month in 2006. But November’s figures fell less than in October, when the number of homes sold didn’t even reach half the amount in October 2006.
The number of homes on the market continues to grow, but Kunz said that people are putting fewer and fewer homes up for sale. San Benito County’s housing inventory included 501 homes in November.
Dee Brown, an agent with ReMax Valley Properties, agreed that November’s statistics contained reasons to be hopeful.
“One month isn’t a trend … but that does seem pretty good for this time of the year,” Brown said.
In past months, many agents have pointed to stories of multiple offers on homes in the Silicon Valley as a sign the market is picking up. Now, Brown said she’s seeing multiple offers in Hollister – albeit bank-owned homes or those offered in a “short sale” to avoid foreclosure.
Kunz agreed that much of the activity is centered on less expensive foreclosed homes.
“We’re even seeing some offers in the upper ($200,000s), which we haven’t seen for three to five years,” she said.
Homes at the high end of the market are also continuing to sell, Kunz said. One possible explanation is that those homes have lost less value than cheaper houses, and financially secure buyers see them as a good investment, Kunz said. But she added, “I really honestly don’t know why the upper end is selling better.”
Most expensive and least expensive homes
The most expensive home sold in November cost $1.15 million. It features four bedrooms and three bathrooms on an eight-acre lot in Tres Pinos. The property also includes a four-stall barn, a jetted tub and an office. It was listed for $1.1508 million.
The least expensive home sold in November was $298,000. It’s a four-bedroom, one-bathroom, 99-year-old home within walking distance from downtown Hollister. It was listed for $325,000.
