Area Realtors have little to offer buyers

Listings drought bumps home prices

By Brian Bullock / Staff Writer / bbullock@timepressrecorder.com
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A Nipomo home is for sale, one of the few area real estate listings. //Emily Slater/Staff

Spring is normally a time when “For Sale” signs pop up like wildflowers in most Central Coast neighborhoods.

But not this year.

There is a nationwide drought of sellers that is evident in the number of homes available on the local multiple listing services.

Santa Maria has fewer than 80 homes available for sale in all price ranges, and while that may sound like quite a few, it’s not. The Santa Maria Association of Realtors normally has nearly four times that many homes in its multiple listing service, said Shea Hutchinson, of Century 21 Hometown Realty, and president of the association.

“It is a very reduced inventory. There is a huge pool of buyers out there right now and not many listings,” Hutchinson said. “It started decreasing toward the end of 2012 with about 50 listings in Santa Maria and Orcutt combined.

“It’s been greatly reduced. A typical normal inventory for us is 250 to 300 but we haven’t been at that mark for a long time probably around 2011,” he added.

There are only about 50 single family homes for sale in San Luis Obispo. The Five Cities area has 207 listings, but that includes Pismo Beach, Grover Beach, Arroyo Grande, Oceano and Nipomo.

“I saw the market change within the last three months. It’s changed 180 degrees from doing nothing to being active,” said Lenny Jones, an Arroyo Grande broker with 30 years in the business. “In the last three or four months, properties have sold within one week with multiple offers and that’s a reflection of low inventory.

Nationwide, the supply of existing homes for sale has fallen for seven-straight months, hitting an almost eight-year low in January, according to the National Association of Realtors.

The number of homes listed for sale in January was down almost 17 percent over the same month last year in 146 major markets, data from Realtor.com shows. And roughly two dozen markets saw decreases of

25 percent, including many in California.

All have a smaller supply of homes for sale than the national average of 4.2 months. That number indicates that if no more homes came on the market, they would all sell in 4.2 months.

The supply of existing homes for sale peaked in July 2010 with a 12.1-month supply, the national association said.

The lack of homes for sale isn’t all bad news, especially for sellers. Low supply means high demand and increasing prices.

“We have a good pool of buyers. Most properties are getting asking price or a bit better,” Hutchinson said. “Most (sellers) have their choice of the best offer, whether it’s a higher priced offer or the best qualified buyers.”

The California Association of Realtors says the price of an existing single-family detached home fell 8.1 percent from December’s median price of $366,930 to $337,040 in January. Despite the drop, the January price was up more than 24 percent over January 2012.

That gain was the 11th consecutive increase over the previous year and the seventh straight month of double-digit increases.

Nationwide, home prices rose 9.7 percent from January 2012, which is the biggest annual gain since April 2006.

Here on the Central Coast, Hutchinson said sales prices are increasing month to month, but at a slow pace.

Despite the news about increasing prices, the market hasn’t recovered enough for some sellers, Hutchinson said.

“Some homeowners are still upside down because of the real estate crash of a few years ago,” Hutchinson said. “Some sellers have to bring in cash or write a check to close.”