Pleasant Hill Housing Market Forecast for 2017: Prices Leveling Off?

Home prices in Pleasant Hill, California rose steadily over the last year or so. According to Trulia, the median sale price in the city was around $673,000 in August 2016. That was a gain of 15% over the same time last year.

So what’s the forecast for the Pleasant Hill real estate market in 2017? Will we have another year of rapid, double-digit home price increases? According to the economists at Zillow, we probably shouldn’t expect the kinds of gains we’ve seen over the last 12 months. In fact, the Pleasant Hill housing market could experience some cooling over the next year or so, with home-price appreciation leveling off.

Forecast for Pleasant Hill Real Estate Market in 2017

According to Zillow: “Pleasant Hill home values have gone up 8.2% over the past year and Zillow predicts they will rise 0.8% within the next year.” This statement was made in August 2016, so it’s projecting through August of 2017.

Bear in mind, this is just one prediction based on current trends. So we probably shouldn’t get too wrapped up in the exact numbers presented here. What’s more important, from a housing analysis standpoint, is the stark difference between their measurement of the last 12 months, and their forecast for the next 12 months.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see the Pleasant Hill real estate market level off in 2017, based on recent headlines for the broader Bay Area. There have been numerous forecasts lately predicting a general softening of the market, with supply increasing and home prices leveling.

Read: Is it a good time to buy in the East Bay?

In May of this year, MarketWatch did a story on this very subject. In it, they quoted Redfin’s chief economist Nela Richardson, who said:

“Now we are seeing this white-hot market start to cool and contract … the price drop is not about inventory; it’s about buyers fed up with high Bay Area prices and crazy competition.”

New Construction Could Ease Housing Crunch

Over the last few years, the East Bay real estate market has suffered from an imbalance between supply and demand. In short, there haven’t been enough homes on the market to satisfy demand. This led to the dramatic home-price gains we’ve seen over the last 12 to 18 months.

But new construction could help ease the crunch, giving buyers more properties to choose from across the pricing spectrum. According to an August 4th article in The Wall Street Journal:

“Over the past year, the East Bay, which stretches 10 to 60 miles to the east of San Francisco and Silicon Valley, is tied for the fastest growth in new-home developments among major U.S. markets.” (Chris Kirkham, WSJ.com)

This could be part of the reason why Zillow’s economists have offered a more modest forecast for the Pleasant Hill real estate market in 2017 (and for other cities across the East Bay, like Walnut Creek). If more homes come onto the market in the future, it would create a better balance between supply and demand. This would likely result in slower home-price gains than what we’ve seen in the past.

In the market for a home loan? Bridgepoint Funding has been serving home buyers and mortgage shoppers in Pleasant Hill for many years. We are a local mortgage company, located in nearby Walnut Creek, that offers a wide variety of loan products and programs. Please contact us to learn more about your financing options. We look forward to helping you!

Disclaimer: This story contains housing market predictions and forecasts for Pleasant Hill, CA in 2017. Such forward-looking statements were provided by third parties not associated with our company. We have presented them here as an educational service for our readers.