Vicki Walker

On Tomorrows "Today" show on NBC (Wednesday, May 28th), Davis, California will be featured as one of the five friendliest cities in the United Sates. It was so named in a recent book by NBC contributor Barbara Cook entitled "Nextville: Amazing Places to Live the Rest of Your Life".

Davis has been known as a bicycle friendly town and has received national, and international attention for it's progressive housing developments. In the late 1970's and early 80's, First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Prince Charles and French President François Mitterrand visited the Village Homes development in west Davis. President Carter later mentioned the environmental strides of Davis in an Oval Office speech.

I review the other unique qualities about Davis in my list The Top Ten Reasons to Live in Davis. It looks like I might have to add #11 to my list....... "One of the Friendliest Cities in the US".

Real Estate market activity has increaeed in Davis in the past 60 days. My buyer business has exploded and other agents I speak with say that their business is up also. Even the Home Inspection team I usually use tells me his company is fully booked and has been for a few weeks.

The biggest increase in business seems to come from out of town buyers, specifically the parents of students attending the University of California at Davis. Many more parents these days are savvy about the financial advantages of buying a home in Davis for their son or daughter to live in while attending college.

Each spring the University has it's annual Picnic Day (one of the Top Ten Reasons to Live in Davis). It is a giant open house at the University with festivities and a parade. Students typically invite their parents to town to join them and tour the school. This is often the point at which out of town parents get interested in Davis real estate and a potential investment. One such buyer was a family that had just learned that their son had been accepted to Medical school here, so they know that the home would be owned for at least five more years.

Many of these parents are from California. In the last couple of weeks I have shown homes to, and sold homes to, parents from San Jose, Mill Valley, and El Monte. They typically want a 3 bedroom, 2 bath home. The plan is to put their son or daughter in the master bedroom and then rent out the other two bedrooms to the students friends. Their child acts as the property manager, and the parents can relax knowing that their rental home investment is being cared for and the tenants are well known. These parents are usually buying in the $350,000 to $425,00 range. Most are looking for a move-in ready home, but there have been a few that are willing to do some fix-up over the summer before the students return in the fall.

A Typical Davis Student Rental Home

The biggest up tick in business in March and April has been in the $500,000 and under range. We have even seen multiple offers on some homes. If priced aggressively, homes have been getting multiple offers and selling above asking price. The sales increase in March and April will be reflected in the closings done in May.

I am just giving you my anecdotal thoughts on the Davis market. In my next post, I will provide the statistics for sales in April and May, which I'm sure will show that my own experiences are true for the whole market.

Speaking of the greater Sacramento Region, it seems as if $200,000 is the level at which demand steps up to meet the supply. Reports are that homes at $200,000 and below are experiencing multiple offers as of late.

My previous post points out however that precious few of these low priced homes are available in Davis and Winters. Woodland and Sacramento seem to have more supply.

As mortgage requirements get tighter, it is investors filling the void. First time buyers struggle against current economic conditions to save a down payment and qualify, while experienced investors with cash and financing snap up the bargains.

There is no doubt that housing in Yolo County and Sacramento County is becoming more affordable. In my next post, I will provide some details as to the latest median home prices and sales numbers for the area.

I was recently comparing the available homes for sale in three of the markets I serve.....Davis, Woodland and West Sacramento, California.

I was looking at the three markets from the perspective of a single-family home investor or a first time buyer. The object was to find a single family home with 3 bedrooms, priced at less than $225,000. This would be a good home for an entry-level buyer, or could also be an attractive rental home, depending on your investment goals.

The three cities could not be more different. Although similar in population - West Sacramento is the smallest city, with about 45,000 residents and Davis has about 65,000, Woodland falling between them - they could not be more different as real estate markets.

My search showed Woodland and West Sacramento had about the same number of properties for sale in the MLS, about 375 each. The difference was that Woodland had 22 homes that met the criteria above, while West Sacramento had only two. Davis had no homes at all for sale under $225,000.

So, there is much more choice for investors and first time buyers in Woodland than any other area of the county. Plus, home prices in Woodland declined 18% in 2006 and 19% in 2007 after double-digit gains in five out of the six previous years. In addition to my Davis homes for sale website, I also have a site focused on Woodland Real Estate.

Since one of the first commandments of real estate investors is to "Buy Right", it would seem that the better opportunity is in Woodland. Many of the homes that met the criteria in Woodland were vacant and a good number are bank owned, indicating that the asking price may have good flexibility.

We may look back and find that 2008 was the best time to buy well-priced single-family homes, by taking advantage of low interest rates and temporarily depressed home prices.

Here is a quick report comparing the sales figures for single family homes in 2007 against the statistics from 2006. The first graph is for Davis and the second is for Woodland. As you can see, the two markets reacted differently to the current slow down in housing demand, with Davis doing much better than Woodland.

Of course this also means that the better bargains are to be found in Woodland currently, as it has seen prices retreat further from the market highs.

Considering that these two towns are just 6 miles apart and about the same size in population, you see a marked difference in the way that the real estate markets in these towns have changed over the last year.