Stanislaus slowly adds housing. A sampling for renters, buyers at various prices
Housing construction has awakened from its long slumber in Stanislaus County, but the supply remains scant for both buyers and renters.
The Modesto Bee sampled some of the current projects, with an eye out for relative bargains. Among them are small houses in south Turlock, listed at about $375,000 on Realtor.com.
But the market continues to be crowded with homes at about $500,000 and up, out of reach for most county residents. Apartment rents are rising, too.
This story does not get into the debate over why housing is so costly. We have reported previously on the cost of labor and building materials and the hefty fees for water, schools and other services. Mortgage interest rates play a part, as does demand from well-paid commuters to the Bay Area.
Many experts do agree on one thing: the basic law of supply and demand. Having more houses on the market could tamp down the bidding wars that drive up the median price. Rents also could ease as apartments are vacated by people who can now buy houses.
Members of the Modesto City Council noted as much in January 2024, when they approved the city’s largest subdivision in about 15 years. Those 527 houses just west of the Amtrak station will start “in the high $400,000 range,” a spokesperson for developer D.R. Horton said at the time. It has not announced the actual prices for the homes, which will begin to be ready next year.
The sampling below includes only one subsidized project, at the former Clarion Inn on Sisk Road. The list shows the range of market-rate housing, crucial to increasing the overall supply.
What do new houses cost around Stanislaus?
Fifth Street, Turlock: Realtor.com shows prices from $376,990 to $456,621 in the Fifth Edition project by Florsheim Homes. The cheapest of the 178 homes have two bedrooms and a bathroom and a total of 884 square feet. The priciest have four bedrooms and 1,830 square feet.
Westgate Drive, Riverbank: Homes are $501,990 and up in the 74-lot Enclave subdvision, a small part of the Crossroads West growth area.
Old Stockton Road, Oakdale: Prices start at $599,000 for the 37 houses being built in the Whispering Oaks project.
Baldwin Ranch, Patterson: D.R. Horton advertises homes as low as $450,000 near the city’s southwest corner. Another builder nearby, Lennar, has prices starting at $453,880.
Prices have not been announced for some of Modesto’s latest developments. They include Tivoli in the northeast part of town and subdivisions along Bangs Avenue.
What are some of the apartment options?
Sisk Road, Modesto: The Clarion was converted to 143 studio apartments, some of them still available after the June grand opening. The rents range from $517 for someone at 30% of the county’s median income to $1,380 at 80%.
Morrill Road, Riverbank: The city in July approved 48 apartments next to an irrigation canal and east of Roselle Avenue. The tentative rent is $2,300 to $2,445 for the units, all with two bedroooms. Constuction could start by late 2026.
Mitchell Road, Ceres: Construction is well along on 145 apartments on the east side of Mitchell Road, south of Whitmore Avenue. The rents have not been announced for this mix of one, two and three-bedroom units. The developer told the Ceres Courier earlier that the project is for middle and upper-income renters.
No vacancies remain in the new Rumble Road Apartments, at Conant Avenue in northwest Modesto. A recent listing showed a $1,900 monthly rent for a two-bedroom unit, one of 50 in the complex.
Check out this mortgage calculator
Horton has a tool at www.dhimortgage.com/Mortgage-Calculator that shows potential buyers how much they might pay per month. It’s handy for people looking for affordable homes anywhere, especially with regard to interest rates.
Let’s assume that the mortgage has a 20% down payment and 7% interest over a 30-year term. One of those new $375,000 houses in Turlock would cost $2,350 a month. The payment is $2,153 if the rate drops to 6%, a real possibility over the next year. The 5% rate typical of 2022 would bring it to $1,965.
Such mortgage payments would be close to what many families now spend on rent. The difference is that they would be building equity in the home, the main source of household wealth.
We have a ways to go. As of June, the county had a median sale price of $495,000 for new and existing houses, according to the California Association of Realtors. Only 26% of households could afford the median mortgage payment of $3,180 a month.
Meanwhile, apartments cost an average of $1,724 a month in the July report from RentCafe.com.
