The average sale price was $1.02 million, but the number was
skewed by a single home that sold for $9.8 million. Without that
sale, the average price would have been $579,310. Since the Free
Lance began tracking highest and lowest home prices in December
2006, no home has sold for more than $2 million.
Hollister – August saw another slow month in the local housing market.
Sales closed on 21 homes, according to regional real estate tracking firm REInfoLink, a 46 percent drop since August 2006. Last year, home sales increased from 28 to 39 between July and August. This year, August sales fell from the 29 in July.
“It’s pretty discouraging,” said Realtor Dee Brown of ReMax Valley Properties. “Buyers are just waiting.”
Plenty of sales tend to close in July and August as families try to move before school starts, Brown said, but that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore. Brown said she’s working “on and off” with three potential buyers, and all of them are waiting for the market to hit the bottom before buying.
“I can’t blame buyers for that, but it’s really bad for sellers,” she said.
The average sale price was $1.02 million, but the number was skewed by a single home that sold for $9.8 million. Without that sale, the average price would have been $579,310. Since the Free Lance began tracking highest and lowest home prices in December 2006, no home has sold for more than $2 million.
“I’d like to have been in on that sale,” Brown said.
Multimillion dollar estates aside, people trying to sell a home aren’t the only ones with reason for concern when the market slows. Nationally, many investors are worried that the dramatic increase in home foreclosures will bring down the overall economy, and real estate economists contend the housing market tends to drive many other industries.
City Councilman Doug Emerson said that vacant homes and foreclosures could also hurt Hollister’s tax revenues.
“It could have a direct impact on our ability to provide services,” he said.
President Bush recently announced national plans to help troubled homeowners refinance. Emerson said there’s not much local governments can do, but he noted that the city will be working with the county to create a team of staffers focused on affordable housing issues.
“There really needs to be somebody qualified to address those needs,” he said.
The slump isn’t affecting everyone equally, Brown said. Although most of her clients are still in Hollister, Brown said she recently moved to the ReMax office in Morgan Hill. The perception among Morgan Hill real estate agents is that the market is slow in Hollister and improves substantially as you get closer to San Jose, she said.
Doug Kuerschner, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker, said he’s also doing well right now because he’s selling many foreclosed homes.
“It’s picking up, but what’s picking up is bank-owned properties,” he said. “That’s where the competition is.”
Kuerschner noted that he’s also concerned about mortgage foreclosures while wearing his “other hat,” as the president of local affordable housing group South County Housing. Kuerschner said he recently attended a workshop in Washington, D.C. to learn how to save homes from foreclosure.
“Before they foreclose, they’re usually willing to work something out,” he said. “But once you get that notice of default, it’s hard to put a stop to it.”
