County’s housing market improves with US trends

According to data from RealtyTrac, San Benito County is on track to have the lowest home foreclosure rates and the highest median house prices since 2006.
“I think the main reason is the interest rates are low, and the economy is getting a little better. It’s not where it was, but it’s coming back,” said Tom Slavich, the San Benito County assessor.
In 2006, the median sale price for a single family home was $585,500. Today, the median price in Hollister is $410,000, according to numbers from MLS Listings. For San Benito County overall, the median price is $416,000.
“The median price has risen over the last year,” said Nick Lomoro of MLS Listings, which keeps housing data on the five major counties in the central region, including San Benito, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Santa Cruz and Monterey counties.
Indeed, in the last six months, the average value of a home in Hollister rose 36 percent from the same period last year, according to Realty World in Hollister.
“I’ve seen the San Benito County/Hollister market come back from where it was three years ago,” said Lomoro. “There is totally a reduction in distressed houses.”
The national housing foreclosure crisis hit the county hard in 2007 and 2008. Foreclosure proceedings rose five times as fast in 2007 at 655 to a peak of 2,170 in 2009. In 2012, the amount of foreclosures slowed to 744 in the county. The number of foreclosure filings reduced by 74 percent from 2012.
Last year San Benito’s foreclosure rate dropped by 44 percent from the same time in 2011. San Benito County in 2012 was placed in the middle of the pack in foreclosures in the state of California, at 25th. A new report released early this month showed that foreclosure filings are down 60 percent from November of last year in California.
An analysis by the Free Lance of the data has found that since January 2013 to November 2013, more than 200 foreclosure proceedings had been filed in the county. Comparably, in 2006, before the recession hit, only 164 foreclosures were filed the whole year.
“If you look, there are substantially less,” Slavich said about foreclosures.
He said more builders are coming to town and have “more confidence” to build.
“You’re going to see more subdivisions starting to pop up probably within the next year or two,” he said.
Lomoro said the number of REOs (bank-owned properties) and short-sale homes has decreased from 2012.
In April 2012, the number of short sale homes was at 20; in 2013, the number was seven. In November 2012, the number of short sale homes was 11; in 2013, it was four.
He said the overall market is still struggling in San Benito County, but just due to the small market for homes compared to nearby counties.
“There are more buyers than sellers,” he said.