Home building triples in Los Banos

Home construction has improved here with the city administering 120 permits to build so far this year, tripling last year’s total, according to city leaders.

City Manager Steve Carrigan said Los Banos doled out 40 permits last year, but the market this year has improved. “We’ve had a really good year,” he said. “The builders are still coming in.”

He noted that 120 permits is close to the capacity the city could handle with its current staffing. He said the demand for homes in town is increasing.

Forty-five homes were sold in September, according to Corelogic, a data-tracking website. The median sale price of $224,000 was a 12 percent increase from the same time last year.

Only the city of Merced saw more home sales that month in the county. The median sales price in Los Banos was second only to Hilmar, which sold just three homes that month.

Theresa Bartholomew, a real estate agent with Coldwell Banker in Los Banos, said homes selling for more than $300,000 tend to lag on the market but that homes under that price are selling at a brisk pace. “There’s a lot of activity,” she said.

Most of the interest comes from out-of-town buyers, she said. Los Banos has long been a commuter town for people who work in Gilroy, San Jose and other cities on the other side of Pacheco Pass.

But, she said, local buyers are also involved in the market. Homes are regaining value again since the housing market crash and the Great Recession of last decade. Some local homeowners are selling and moving into more expensive homes, she said.

Los Banos is seeing few foreclosures or short sales, she said, and many people who were renting out homes in town are selling them.

Carrigan said home building drives much of the economy, so the construction is a good sign. But, he said, the city also wants to keep it at a conservative level.

Building bucks up city coffers and employs local workers, who are likely to spend their disposable income in town. “It just gets the economy going,” he said.

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 5:00 PM with the headline "Home building triples in Los Banos."