FAIRFIELD — Half empty or half full.
That adage is central to how Solano County officials and business leaders look at the local housing market, which continues to experience rising home values, but a limited inventory.
Moreover, the discussion also includes a number of other critical issues, including the fact that home and rental prices in Solano County are outpacing the wages of local workers compared to commuters who view Solano as more affordable than the areas where they work for higher pay.
Moreover, those home prices are just now exceeding the point of where they were at just prior to the 2008 economic crash.
The bigger issue for the industry remains the lack of inventory to sell, and the growing concern that fewer and fewer Californians – and Solano County residents specifically – can afford to purchase the generally higher-priced homes that are on the market.
Curtis Stocking, president of the Northern Solano County Association of Realtors and a Realtor with United Country Greenfields Real Estate in Vacaville, said in the spring that the overall picture is generally positive.
“There is a lot of demand,” Stocking said. “But inventory is very light, and it’s light because buyers are buying everything up.”
In short, whatever is going onto the market is being purchased, but there is not enough homes to meet the demand.
Stocking said it was not that long ago when people moved from their first home every six or seven years, and now that is closer to 10 to 12 years.
“People just don’t move as much as they used to,” he said. “And I think that has a lot to do with affordability.”
Stocking said he believes the primary reason is property tax, which is going to be much greater at the buyer’s new home than at the existing home.
He said he does not think consumer fear of the kind of market bubbles that can be devastating when they pop is as big a factor.
“It is going to be on their minds, but I really don’t think that plays into it,” Stocking said.
He also noted that new construction of homes is down, which helps limit the housing market inventory. He blames bureaucratic restrictions for making it difficult on contractors.
“It is very tough to build new homes,” Stocking said.
Another issue that is looming is the pressure the county and its cities will feel when new affordable housing assessments are completed, and what those jurisdictions will be required to do to meet those requirements.
