Kern County Maintains Sales Volume

Trying to determine the sales trend in Kern County just got more difficult as sales remained exactly the same this quarter. According to Robert Martinez, Director of Research for MarketPointe™ Realty Advisors, Inc., “an optimist might view this flattened market as a…bottom” while pessimists will say it’s the calm before the storm. Either way, ResidentialTrends™ reports, with fewer and fewer active developments in the region a significant recovery in the near term is probably unlikely.

It appears that home prices may have hit their bottom in the fourth quarter of last year. Detached weighted average price rose nearly 3 percent this quarter, the highest average since the first quarter of 2009. As reported in ResidentialTrends™, this price increase coupled with a negligible increase in home size resulted in a 3 percent increase in the detached value ratio, “a more accurate measure of home value”. This current value ratio is the highest since the first quarter of 2008.

Inventory in the 58 active detached projects decreased for the eighth consecutive quarter. This quarter’s 2 percent decline pushed the total supply to its lowest level since the third quarter of 2006. Nearly 96 percent of current inventory is within unreleased future phases of existing developments. Together, both unsold inventory and inventory that has not yet been made available represent six and one half years of total supply. However, the inventory that has been made available and remains unsold represents just over three months of supply.

MarketPointe™ Realty Advisors, Inc. provides new housing market statistics throughout California via its ResidentialTrends™ new-home database and its LandTracker™ proposed development database, as well as site specific, tailored housing market research and consulting services. Comprehensive “Housing Market Overviews” providing new home sales, pricing, housing inventory trends, future housing supply, and new and leading developments are available for regions across California by going to www.marketpointe.com/landing. Phone San Diego at 619-233-3781, Orange County at 714-528-2554 or Sacramento at 916-710-1396; url:www.marketpointe.com.

Contact Information

Robert D. Martinez

Director of Research

MarketPointe™ Realty Advisors

Contact via E-mail