Housing Watch: Spring could provide sales boost in Valley market

FRESNO, Calif. -- High interest rates continue to slow home sales in the Valley and across the country.

Local real estate experts expect home sales to pick up as the weather warms up in spring.

Many sellers have had to reduce their initial asking price because home buyers are being extremely patient.

Steve Flach is president of the Fresno Association of Realtors.

He's seeing a return to normalcy with more negotiating.

"Now, we have buyers that are actually able to take a little bit of time when they see a home, do their due diligence and hopefully get some repairs done that might be needed," said Flach.

Fresno homeowners tend to sell and move after 3.9 years .

In Elk Grove, they switch homes every 2.3 years while Salinas residents stay in their homes for more than nine years according to data from Point2Homes

Big storms aside, Ryan De Young of De Young Properties says this is a time when people typically like to get out and go house-hunting.

"Obviously, we are in the spring selling season right now. So, this is really when things start to pick up in the real estate environment and I think interest rates will continue to improve," De Young explained.

Many buyers figure if they'll be rewarded if they remain patient.

Flach encourages buyers to move forward if they come across that perfect home which checks all the boxes for your family.

"We do see some people waiting on the sideline and the market's not going to crash so the people that are waiting for the market to crash to make a move, I think they're going to be missing out on it," Flach said.

Flach says homes which are priced well continue to move quickly in Central California.

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