Castro Valley Home Prices Are Down But So Is Unemployment Rate

Housing prices and unemployment rates in Castro Valley tell a story that could be worse, given the recesession.

We gathered up a few new statistics from the state Economic Development Department., a real estate database kept by Zillow.com and other sources to give you this numerical snap shot.

Home prices

After steep falls two years running, the median home price in Castro Valley began to recover in 2010 but has now lost that momentum and is falling again in 2011, according to Zillow.com, which maintains a national database.

The year-over-year median home price fell 5.8 percent to $439,000 in March 2011, according to Zillow.com.

But that’s still higher than nearby Fairview, San Leandro, San Lorenzo and Cherryland, where the median prices are $356,700, $318,400, $301,300 and $239,400, respectively.

The second dip had been predicted nationwide because a second wave of foreclosures was expected this year, prompted by a big batch of short-term fixed mortgages that were scheduled to go variable beginning last fall. The glut of foreclosures depresses prices for all home sales.

Unemploment rate

In somewhat better news, Castro Valley’s unemployment rate remained roughly constant over the past two months, dropping one-tenth of a point to 6.3 percent, according to the state Economic Development Department.

That’s the second lowest in the East Bay, with only Pleasanton lower at 5.4 percent, also having dropped one-tenth of a percent.

Statewide, the unemployment rate is about double those numbers at 12.2 percent. Countywide, the rate is 10.7 percent. 

In the East Bay, Oakland has the highest unemployment rate with 16 percent. Cherryland is next with 15.4 percent.

The slight drop locally came during the biggest monthly increase in state unemployment numbers since 1990, when the state began tracking under its current system, the Los Angeles Times reported on Saturday.

California added 96,500 jobs in February, compared to 700 in January, the Times said, calling it "the strongest sign yet that the state economy is on the mend."

Statewide, the biggest gains were in high technology, tourism and movies, the Times said. This would seem to indicate an improved public mood, given that the increases are in entertainment industries.

Castro Valley's workers

Locally, the most job openings are in software engineering, product management and physical therapy, according to SimplyHired.com.

About 40 percent of Castro Valley’s workers are in management and related professional occupations, according to SimplyHired.com. About 10 percent are self-employed and 13 percent work for the government.

The median household income in Castro Valley is $64,874, according to SimplyHired.com.

That’s a little short of the $75,000 figure cited in a new book on happiness. In Thrive: Finding Happiness the Blue Zones Way, Dan Buettner asserts that families don’t report significant increase in their happiness levels above the $75,000 mark.