Housing affordability in Manteca along with Stockton and Lodi is sinking back to pre-Great Recession levels.

Data lumped together for the three cities puts the median household income at $63,000 with the median resale home costing $365,000. Based on those statistics only 28 percent of the households can afford to buy the median-resale home.

Housing sales for both new and existing homes reflect that reality with a solid majority of buyers coming from the Bay Area where a growing numbers of communities have median resale housing prices pushing or exceeding $1 million including San Jose that is closing in on $1.1 million.

The pulse of the current regional housing market was provided Thursday by Re/Max Executive broker Chad Costa during the Manteca Rotary’s noon meeting at Ernie’s Rendezvous Room. Re/Max Executive has sales offices in Manteca, Ripon, and Modesto.

Modesto is slightly more affordable than San Joaquin County. The median income in Modesto is at $60,000 and the median resale home is at $298,000. That translates into 34 percent of the households being able to afford a median priced home assuming their debt level is low enough and they have the down payment. The statistics are from the first quarter of this year.

Costa pointed out as housing demand and prices have increased in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties wages have been essentially stagnant.

Costa noted at the same time banks are returning to 100 percent loans — the same mortgages that fueled much of the housing collapse when many borrowers without “skin in the game” walked away from homes that dropped in value even though they could still afford the payments.

Both San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties have conventional loan limits of $435,000 while the Stanislaus County FHA loan limit is at $322,000. The San Joaquin County FHA loan limit is at $391,000. 

It is against that backdrop that home buyers find themselves in a tight market in the Northern San Joaquin Valley with Manteca being even harder to find a home than in places like Stockton and Modesto.

“We are seeing numerous multiple offers when homes become available,” Costa said.

There are also bidding wars as well.

Agents are also seeing sellers who are pushing for prices that are significantly above nearby comparable of similar properties used to determine appraised values. Costa indicated that in many cases bank appraisals are coming in that justify the higher selling prices.

In June the average home in Manteca stayed on the market for 22 days before it had an accepted offer. For San Joaquin County the number was 30 days.

Based on the pace of sales Manteca ended June with a 1.2 months’ worth of inventory compared to 1.7 months for the rest of the county. Experts consider it a buyers’ market with the housing inventory is below six months.  Available inventory mirrors the available housing supply situation in 2004.

“It is a supply and demand issue,” Costa said. “California went for a number of years starting in 2007 building few houses (due to the recession).”

 Costa said the situation isn’t any better for renters who are often finding upwards of a dozen people applying for the same homes. Affordability is also a big issue as renters need to typically have a monthly income three times the rent.

As a result, Costa said the resale market reflects a growing trend that is being seen in new home sales of multiple families buying a home together and sharing living space.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com