A look at the housing market with president of Fresno Association of Realtors

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- To sell a home in today's sluggish real estate market, sellers are having to lower their expectations, according to Carmen Jimenez Phillips, president of the Fresno Association of Realtors.

"I've used this term -- sellers are 'romanticizing' with prices of 2024 and things are changing, so we have to look at things differently," she said.

Jimenez Phillips says right now, it takes about 40 days to sell a home in the Fresno-Clovis market.

She's noticed buyers have become much more selective.

"Because of affordability, our pool of buyers is a little bit smaller and so that means there's more properties available per buyer, and that brings opportunities," she said.

The real estate company Redfin estimates there are almost 500,000 more home sellers than buyers in the US.

The record high disparity across the country is not as wide in the Valley.

"3.5% more homes in Fresno means about 1,500 homes available per buyer, available to buyers," Phillips said.

She has started to notice more price drops among Central California homes.

"I don't think that has to do too much with prices coming down," she said. "It has to do with homes being priced up here when they need to adjust for today's market."

Jimenez Phillips says Valley homes remain affordable, though it may not seem like it, with two incomes needed to close on most houses.

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