Buyers Back Post Rim Fire
Tuolumne County, CA — Tuolumne County’s housing market took a hit during the Rim Fire, but Real Estate officials report the numbers of buyers are slowly building. The total number of homes sold in the county is up 6% from last year at this time. Tuolumne County Realtors Association President Greg Humphrey says the government shutdown did not impact the numbers that much, but the Rim Fire kept buyers away.
Humphrey says, “When we had smoke and embers in the air tourism dropped off, the normal amount of buyer traffic diminished quite a bit and people that I was actively working with just kind of pulled back and said I think we’re going to wait. I’ve had three of those buyers this week come back to start looking at homes.”
The total impact of the Rim Fire will not be known until the fourth quarter (Oct. – Dec.) numbers are tallied. The median price for a home in the third quarter (July -Sept.) of this year has gone up $28,000 or 17% from last year.
Humphrey says, “The most remarkable statistic is the drop of bank owned homes (foreclosures) that are listed for sale. They have gone down almost 40% from last year.”
Currently, there are 121 homes under contract in Tuolumne County. Fifty homes have closed as of October 24th which is short of the monthly goal of 79, but as Humphrey points out the market is still recovering.
