Stockton foreclosure listings are still dominating the housing market despite a slowdown in foreclosure actions, based on reports from real estate information providers and property analysts in San Joaquin Valley.
One real estate research firm reported that currently, foreclosure homes still comprise the majority of homes listed in Multiple Listing Services in the area. Of the more than 6,600 homes available for sale in listing services, around 6,200 units are foreclosure homes.
The average price in September was $132,978, an increase of 0.03 percent from the previous month. The average price slightly increased in the first weeks of October to $134,733. The increase in price was driven by the slower entry of new foreclosures. In the Stockton metro area, home buyers in August paid around $2,515 or 1.3 percent higher than the list price.
The slight home price increase in September was in contrast to the price decline in August. Based on the house price index developed by Integrated Asset Services, San Joaquin County, which covers the Stockton metro area, is among counties that suffered most in price declines in the country. San Joaquin, together with Lee County in Florida, experienced home price drops by almost 50 percent from their record peaks.
The still high number of homes in Stockton foreclosure listings has been worsening the economic situation of residents in the city and in whole San Joaquin Valley.
According to a study by Brookings Institution, although foreclosures were no longer as overwhelming as during the start of the housing crisis, high unemployment levels and low property prices are still pushing a large number of homes into foreclosure.
Although the unemployment rate in August in San Joaquin fell slightly because of the return of farm jobs and school district jobs, the rate was still very high at 15.7 percent, far above the nationwide rate of 9.6 percent during the same month and higher than the statewide rate of 12.1 percent.
In August 2008, the jobless rate in San Joaquin was 10.2 percent. Over the year, nearly 10,000 workers in the county had been laid off by employers.
In the Brookings study, Stockton and Modesto are still listed as among the country’s weakest metro areas while the other California metro areas of Fresno, San Jose and Sacramento have already moved up to the second-weakest category.
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