A report by
www.realtor.com names Bakersfield one of the top cities in the nation to see a housing market turnaround in the second quarter this year.
But, one local expert says things aren't as they seem.
Of the ten cities listed on the
www.realtor.com report, six are in California. Bakersfield is seventh.
"I think people are discovering that the market has bottomed out and starting to go up. And, with prices being low and going up, it's positive that way and positive because the interest rates are low," said Scott Tobias, President of Bakersfield Association of Realtors.
Since last year, median home prices have gone up about 7.6 percent in Bakersfield.
"It's definitely a seller's market. That's because inventory is low so sellers can pretty much get the top price they can get appraised," said Tobias.
Inventory is so low, according to the report, the number of houses for sale in Bakersfield is down about 50 percent from the same time last year.
So this is all good news, right?
Local appraiser Gary Crabtree says not so fast.
"The realtor numbers and my numbers coincide, but I tend to disagree with the fact that we are going to be a fast appreciating market," said Crabtree. "I disagree because we still have a good number of distressed sales. Last month, if we look at July numbers vs. June numbers the median price declined by about $3,500 to $4,000. So I still don't see a major uptick in price until we can wash distressed sales and REO transactions through the system."
A graph shows a long-term comparison of single-family home prices in Bakersfield. And, while there's been a slight increase, as Crabtree says, we are still bumping along the bottom as far as the recovery goes.
In fact, in severe contrast to the report by
www.realtor.com, another report from Veros Real Estate Solutions, predicts Bakersfield will see one of the weakest recoveries in the country over the next year.
"We are on a road to recovery, and we will probably continue on that road for some time. But, I wouldn't expect a major uptick in prices," said Crabtree.
