The AI boom may be fueling a hot housing market in San Francisco, but statistically Mariposa County’s housing market this summer is even hotter.
The number of home sales in Mariposa County for June was up 31 percent from a year ago, with a median home price of $510,000, a 29 percent price increase over the previous year, according to the monthly price report from the California Association of Realtors.
Homes in the county were on the market for an average of 31 days, compared to two months a year ago.
But for many local real estate agents the market still doesn’t feel that great, just slightly better than it has been.
In the last few years, the local housing market has faced significant headwinds, from interest rates to the ability of buyers to get fire insurance, which banks require for a mortgage.
There also appeared to be an overall softening or saturation in the investor driven short-term rental (STR) market.
Realtor Richard Ballinger believes the overall market has been on “somewhat of a plateau” over the last few years, and he suspects bigger sales may be moving the overall numbers.
“The median home price increase is likely due to increased sales of properties with unique characteristics, such as ranch-style properties on large acreage, or increased sales volume in areas like Yosemite West and Wawona,” Ballinger told the Mariposa Gazette in an email.
Ballinger said buyers are beginning to have slightly more leverage in negotiations.
“Sellers can maintain their leverage by pricing their homes competitively, but a listing is a lot like a piece of fruit on a tree — it needs to be picked when it is ripe, but if it sits on the tree too long, it rots, and then no one wants it,” or they want it at a heavy discount, he said.
Catheys Valley broker Brett Baumann believes a market comeback may say more about a dismal 2025, which he described as “one of the worst years.”
Baumann said buyers were adjusting to changes in what was a standard Buyer Representation and Broker Compensation Agreement, which states how much the broker will be paid and by whom.
That agreement is now negotiable.
“This was a complete 180 from the past and buyers weren’t ready for it,” Baumann said.
“Now that buyers are beginning to understand that not much has changed, in most cases, sellers who want to sell their home will most likely still compensate the buyer’s brokerage or buyer’s agent. We are much busier in 2026,” he said.
Fire insurance is still a deterrent for some buyers, said Dianna Condell, association executive for the Mariposa County Board of Realtors.
Some people on the FAIR Plan, California’s insurer of last resort, are seeing a 30 percent increase in their premiums, she said.
“The FAIR Plan was always meant to be a band-aid for areas like ours that were nearly impossible to insure due to high risk, it was never meant to insure the entire state,” Condell told the Gazette.
She said some new companies have entered the market offering lower premiums with higher deductibles.
There are some areas of the county where home sales are being held back because of the prospect of utility rate increases.
Mariposa County Supervisor Shannon Poe has bemoaned homes sitting on the market in Coulterville and Lake Don Pedro, where small water utility districts are asking home owners to approve rate increases that in a few years could quadruple what they currently pay.
There are similar water and sewer issues in Yosemite West and Ponderosa Basin.
In California overall, home sales are up 6 percent from a year ago, but the median home price has dipped slightly to $904,640, according to the June numbers.
The Central Valley remains one of the most affordable places to buy a home in California with median home prices in Fresno ($429,820), Merced ($431,400) and Madera ($428,120) well below the state average.
At the other extreme, San Francisco home prices had a 25 percent year-over-year growth, with a much higher average home price of $2,128,000.
Responses (0)