I was in the Los Angeles area (San Fernando Valley actually) last weekend to visit some friends and was amazed by property values. I know what you’re probably thinking: that it’s incredible how high real estate prices are in metropolitan areas. In fact, it’s the opposite that amazed me…how similar Chico prices are to prices in San Fernando!
My friends home is very cool, not unlike a lot of properties you see on the outskirts of Chico – a rambling 60’s vintage ranch-style home with a garage-to-den conversion, knotty cedar interior walls, on a deep lot with an in-ground pool and a detached guest house…like something you might find off of Garner, Hicks or Keefer.
At the top of the market in 2005-2006 they received an assessment of the homes value at approximately $950,000, much higher than it would have commanded in Chico at that time. But now it seems things have equalized. While home values in the San Fernando Valley dropped like a lead sinker, home prices in Chico suffered a much smaller decrease – somewhere around 30% off of their highest.
Take a guess what the above L.A. area home is currently worth…try about $450,000. How about in Chico? I found three homes with similar qualities; one on Sheridan and two on Vallombrosa… range of prices? A low of $340,000 a high of $555,000.
In other words, Chico prices for this type of home might actually be HIGHER! But then, to compare Chico to the San Fernando Valley might be a little like comparing apples to oranges.
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