Home ownership has slightly decreased since 2000 in Ceres, according to the City’s 2014-2023 Housing Element, something City Manager Toby Wells attributes to the town readjusting itself after the recession.
“I think in the big picture there is a relationship between home price and rent price. I think that relationship for the past five to six years has been a little skewed. A lot of people are renting who would normally be owning homes, but I think the market is starting to get back to more traditional metrics,” said Wells. “As the market starts to stabilize I think we’ll see the rents reflect that.”
Rent in California is growing at nearly twice the national average according to Apartment List, a listing website that draws data from its several hundred thousand monthly listings. In the Central Valley, where salaries are typically lower than other areas of the state, residents are often faced with the quandary of finding housing that is affordable, especially single family dwellings that are often in high demand.
 In the nearby town of Turlock, the struggle single individuals and small families face when finding housing they can afford is revealed in the fact that there are 648 families on the waiting list for two and three bedroom apartments at Avena Bella, the City of Turlock’s most recent affordable housing complex. Crane Terrace, which offers both affordable housing for seniors and market rate units as well, also has a waiting list and it has been in operation for more than 10 years.
“It’s a similar situation all over the Valley. I don’t think Turlock is unique in that respect,” said Wells. “The cost of housing in California is a significant portion in anyone’s budget and that is felt in a lot of towns in this area.”