A spanshot of the Riverside real estate market

A SNAPSHOT OF THE RIVERSIDE REAL ESTATE MARKET

Riverside is one of the most populous counties in the State of California, having over 2.4 million residents. Most of the area’s population growth took place in the millennium Boom when there were a lot of construction jobs, and new home sales skyrocketed. However, following the 2008- 10 recession, most people in the region were left homeless, and the region incurred deep losses in sales volume. Additionally, new construction starts halted, and employment rates dwindled.

Ten years after the recession, the region economy is in a prolonged recovery, slowly gaining momentum as the lost jobs in the region begin to make a quick comeback. Also, employment has almost fully recovered, exceeding the number of jobs pre-recession at the end of 2014. Today, sales agents can anticipate the sales volume to slow down and the prices to decline as we head into another recession. Currently, we are experiencing low-interest rates, and they will continue to inflate home prices. However, of importance to note is that steep loss of jobs due to the Coronavirus pandemic will keep many of the potential homebuyers from acting in the months ahead.

Danon Burnside

Since 2011, the home sales volume in Riverside has remained relatively level. The only exception was in 2014 when the region was hit hard by the massive exit of the speculators making the sales volume to end the year at 9% below the previous year. The region has since recovered from that, and the recovery can be well traced since 2015 when the sales volume rebounded to 11% above the levels recorded in 2014. Fast forward to 2020; we are yet to see the region’s true recovery as the annual sales volume continues to plod along. The sales volume in the region will likely not recover for a few more years. Real regions recovery is expected to happen around 2022-2023, and it is actually at this point when the firsttime Generation Y home buyers and Baby Boomers retirees will converge to drive up the sales volumes and prices. But in the meantime, the trend we have to contend with a rapid reduction in sales volume and prices.

During the last recession, the region’s homeownership rate fell precipitously. All through the 2000s, Riverside’s homeownership rate was always around 68% until the end of the Millennial Boom. As of Q4 of 2019, the homeownership rate had fully recovered, now at 62%. This is higher than the state’s average of 56.3%. The return in homeownership rates is quite impressive. Job creation and stability is something attracting the most number of buyeroccupants who mainly depend on it. By the end of 2014, the jobs lost in the Great Recession of 2008 were finally recovered.

“But with the intervening eight years of population increase, the ultimate job recovery with the strong wage rises needed to support high sales volume and in turn price increases will wait until later in 2019, just in time for the economy to head into its next slump. The homeownership rate will remain below prerecession levels until the years following the next recession, only to rise when members of Gen Y collectively gain enough income to become first-time homebuyers.” – Ft Journal

To get more data and insights about the Riverside housing market, reach out to Danon Burnside. Danon is an expert real estate agent with the experience to help you get the best deals out of the market.

Sources;

https://journal.firsttuesday. us/riverside-housingindicators-2/29239/