According to a recent study by the California Legislature, it looks like home sales are beginning to slow down, and realtors and sellers in San Luis Obispo County shared their thoughts on the real estate market on the Central Coast.
The Legislative Analyst’s Office weighed in on the sales housing market in California, calling it weak, after a decrease in sales from 2018.
Realtors say they’re seeing the same trend here in San Luis Obispo County, but locally it may be a result of increasing prices.
“The market has actually leveled off due to affordability, we’re not building enough product in California, so we don’t have enough housing and it’s driving houses up,” said CEO of Century 21 in Arroyo Grande, Jack Hardy.
Due to such a small supply of homes in California, buyers began to overpay for houses, which is good for sellers but it’s causing prices to skyrocket, and now California could be at a point where people can’t afford to buy.
“What’s happening now is we’re not seeing as many multiple offers on the table, what we’re seeing is when you get a good buyer, you’re going to want to work a little harder to keep them on the hook,” said the owner of Mariani Realty, Robert Mariani.
In this case, work a little harder could mean lowering the price of your home to find someone who can afford it.
Hardy says it’s not hard to find buyers in the area but it can be if the price isn’t right, “there are plenty of buyers in our Central Coast market here, but it is price sensitive if the property is not priced correctly, it’s going to sit on the market,” said Hardy.
San Luis Obispo resident, Chery Longbabaugh is about to put her house on the market and is hopeful about it selling, “it seems like the inventory is really low right now, so it seems like its a good time to sell,” said Longabaugh.
Longabaugh says she feels confident that her moderately priced home will sell quickly, however, Hardy thinks this same trend of housing sales is only going to continue because of supply and demand.
On a positive note, the report says home sales have been steady the past couple of months and don’t appear to be declining from month to month.
