Real Estate Price Trends in Riverside & San Bernardino California:
House prices have fallen to 2003 levels, but appear to have reached bottom. The number of houses sold in Riverside and San Barnardino have substantially recovered ofver the past few months. Below are charts showing the median house prices and number of houses sold over the past 9 years.
The Real Estate Market in Riverside and San Bernardino Counties
People keep asking me about the future direction of the market, and while I can't foretell the future (if I could, I'd be in that business), I can say that the last sixty or so years have demonstrated that many Americans and new immigrants wish to move to California and have been doing so consistently. Homes in the coastal cities have become expensive, forcing buyers to move further inland. So while we need to get through the current financial crisis, one would expect housing prices to recover and grow. For those who hesitate to buy at this time, I warn them that lower prices are most likely to happen across the board when interest rates go up, so monthly payments are unlikely to go any lower. If they do buy now and see prices fall, then can sit tight in their home and wait perhaps five instead of two years to sell because prices will eventually come back up even higher.
Throughout the 1980’s, Riverside was the fastest growing county in all of California, and prices shot up during that decade. The recession and the closing of March Air Base in Moreno Valley had a drastic effect on home prices in the area in the 1990’s, shot up through the 1996, and now have fallen back to early 2000 levels.While a cycle of boom, bust, and boom again can be exhausting, patience and planning for the long-term can get us through.
Also see at my Riverside Realtor and Riverside Real Estate Blogs for a more discussion of real estate trends and how they relate to the Inland Empire.
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