Visalia home builders busy
Visalia issued 562 new home permits in 2025, more than double the 270 permits in 2024. So far in 2026 in only a quarter of the year, builders here have taken out permits to build almost 200 new single family homes. See chart below issued by the City of Visalia.
Tulare County existing home sales slow
The latest figures for the Tulare County real estate market point to slow sales the first week of April 2026 with the number of homes sold is down 62% year over year but the number of homes for sale up 6%.Pending sales were also down 25% compared to the same period year ago. A year ago there were some 550 homes on the market in March 2025 and now there are about 600. Late winter is also the slowest time of the year for real estate sales
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Tulare County Jobless rate climbs
EDD reports that the unemployment rate in Tulare County was 11.1 percent in January 2026, up from a revised 10.2 percecent in December 2025, and above the year-ago estimate of 10.9 percent. This compares with an unadjusted une rate of 5.5 percent for California and 4.7 percent for the nation during the same period.
While the county’s jobless rate year over here has climbed slightly, two sectors continue to show strength. Leisure and Hospitality jobs are up by 600 from January 2025 and healthcare jobsare up by 1400 the past year.
A closer look at the numbers shows Tulare County civilian labor force has declined in the past year by over 3500 indicating that these people are perhaps gone and clearly unavailable for work here.
Fresno County has the same trend showing his lower labor force, but a big jump in both healthcare and accommodation jobs.