Rosalyn Santiago's Blog

It was speculated many moons ago that Los Banos & surrounding areas were going to experience an influx of available new homes.   Although the source of this information is reliable is hard to say what happened to that influx of new listings. In Los Banos we see many homes getting foreclosed on but no listed as REO or bank owned properties. Leave us to wonder, what is happening.

In May 2010 there were 358 active listings with 211 sold and 223 that went Pending.  In june the active listing wet up 7.5% to 385 active listings and 276 Pending an increase of 23.8%. 

The majority of this listings are not Bank Owned but they still are affordable and some in more than ready to move in condition.  The seller whether an investor/investors or private sale provide clean homes with new interior paint and, if it needs it, new carpet or/and flooring.

Will we see another influx of REO homes?  Only time will tell.

Below is a preview of current active listings.  We are comparing the current activity to the prior 2 months and trying to determine if we have more house selling for less or more houses selling for more.

July has a number of new active listing in each of the criteria shown below but the average marketing time as you can see is much less than 30 days in comparison to May and June 2009.

                                                2 Bedrooms      3 Bedrooms      4 Bedrooms      5+Bedrooms

# Of Active Units             0                                22                             32                             5

Average List Price           $0                             $118,889              $133,093              $185,960

Average Market Time    0                                27                            20                             21

 While in June, the average days on the market was less than the average days on the market in the month of May, June offered more new active listings than in the month May.

                                                   2 Bedrooms      3 Bedrooms     4 Bedrooms      5+Bedrooms

#of Active Units                  0                               21                             16                             0

Average List Price               $0                           $95,714                 $158,906             $0

Average Market Time         0                             56                             58                            0 

May offered even less new active listings and the days on the market were long.  Not many buyers.

                                         2- Bedrooms         3 Bedrooms    4 Bedrooms    5+Bedrooms

# Of Active Units                 2                          17                           5                              1

Average List Price               $115,250        $150,109            $144,600           169,900

Average Market Time         209                   121                         80                          285

So why is it so hard to buy in Los Banos.  For every new listing posted, the listing agent will get at least 4 offers on the first day is posted and up to 20 offers after 7 days on the market; at least 10 of those buyers are qualified buyers.  Los Banos has bargains.  For Example, the office received a new listing of a home built in 2006 with 3524 square feet and a backyard measuring over 9000 sq feet.  The property listing price is $189,900 which comes out to be $53.89 per square feet. This is a real bargain especially on a home that is the size of mansion in comparison to older homes in Los Banos.  Today’s market is about the highest and best offer even if the highest price is nowhere near the appraisal value.  Of course,  time will tell if in July all new listings indeed do sell above asking price and even above current appraisal values.

It has become a great concern that Los Banos is becoming a ghost town.  This is the best time to invest in this little hub of central valley.  There are a lot of great people here that love this little town.  There are lot of great things coming such as the new community center which will bring lots of new technology and a place for the youth to visit and hang out.  We have had 1 major retail store open in the last 6 months (TARGET) and a few more to come in the next year. This is schedule to be a hub for the futurist bullet train which will be a plus if and when the gas prices go up again.

Los Banos has a small town appeal and plenty of friendly business to visit and let’s not forget how Home Prices are the lowest they’ve been in a long time.  The inventory is very appealing.