Tracy Housing Market (San Jose, Livermore, Pleasanton: for sale, foreclosures, renters)

[pacoco]

Hello all.... I see lots of really nice houses, 2400sqft, 4 BR, 2Ba, etc for sale in Tracy area for under 300K. What is going on there ? Lots of foreclosures I guess. What kind of neighborhood is the North-West part of Tracy ? As far as the essentials go,, low crime rate, services and stores in area, recreation, etc.... I am thinking about looking and with the prices the way they are buying a home in that area. I know the commute to SJ or SF is horrendous,,, but that is not a problem for me....
Thanks in advance.......

[wilkermoo]

WOW, this is where I moved from. When I was looking to buy a home in Tracy, the nicer homes were above $400,000. I am so surprised to hear that the price has dropped that much.

There were a ton of foreclosures when I was looking also. Most of the homes that we viewed were vacant. Ii is really sad that so many people lost their homes, but it is a good opportunity for those who waited if the prices have dropped. I had a friend that commuted to San Jose area from Moutnain House. The commute is pretty bad on 580. When I was commuting from Tracy to Pleasanton it took me about 45 minutes if it was normal traffic. If there was an accident it would take over an hour.

Tracy was a nice place to live. I would have rather lived in Livermore, Pleasanton or Danville, but Tracy was where we could afford. Good luck with your house hunt.

[pacoco]

Thanks for the information wilkermoo..... How long did you live in Tracy?
I know thw area has grown quite a bit in the last 10 years.....

[sonarrat]

It has grown.. and a lot of brand-new, 5000 sf+ houses got built on ginormous lots in the southeast corner of the city.. priced at a million plus and most of them on the market for more than a year now. Boom and bust seems to be the name of the game in the San Joaquin Valley.. my advice is not to be a knife catcher, you might get lucky, but people have been buying every month hoping to catch that knife and every month they get cut by prices that keep going lower.. so you're just as likely to become one of that unfortunate statistic. At the same time, the only thing that will stem the bleeding is for people to do what you're doing. That's the tough thing about housing downturns.

[pacoco]

Sonarrat- I hear you about these downturns.... in that area it is a SEVERE one... I know, it's somewhat like the internet crash of the stock market in 2001 ... But for the houses in the 2500sqft range listed for about $280K,,, it's almost down to the point where you can't build them for that ( assuming typical constructions costs of about $100 / sqft)...
You are right sooner or later the bottom will be hit,,, then slowly that market will recover when price / demand and incomes in the area can support the market... I have been watching the area, and knowing what prices are like just 30 miles to the west ..... it's starting to look real interesting there ..... even to investors...

[wilkermoo]

Hi Pacoco

I lived in Tracy for 5 years. 2002-2007. It changed a lot in that time. When I first moved to Tracy, the Mountain House community was just getting started. They actually had Mountain House Pkwy shut down for the first 6 months or so that I lived there because they were getting it ready for the housing development.

Tracy is nice because there is plenty of restaurants, shopping etc to get you by. But if you need more you can go over the Altamont and there is more.

Originally Posted by pacoco

Thanks for the information wilkermoo..... How long did you live in Tracy?
I know thw area has grown quite a bit in the last 10 years.....

[pacoco]

What about renting a house out in Tracy ?? Wht would a 4BR, 2500sqft, 3 Ba, 2car garage house rent for these days ?? For an owner,,, is the market strong ?? Reasonable number of renters out there ? Thanks....

[recon110]

$1685
Most of the over priced homes are falling down due to lack of maintenance. Most of the 300 to 400s have no upgrades and cookie cutter kitchens. Wasted space that cost even more to heat and cool. The newer homes have poor windows with little or no insulation. Cheap construction for Miditerranean type home. We relocated here and not very happy. Intend on getting back to Texas as quickly as possible. Thanks but no Thanks on Tracy.