Have we hit the bottom yet? Ahhh...who knows. But, here are some really interesting statistics that were shared with a group of Realtors on Tuesday morning. The information was provided by our local MLS and compiled by the wonderful Brian McMartin - thanks for sharing Brian!
In Sacramento County and the City of West Sacramento, there were a record breaking number of closed escrows for the months of January and February! There were 1,542 recorded sales for the month of January and 1,575 recorded sales in the month of February. Never before has Sacramento seen this many closed escrows in either January or February. And, these record breaking months came on the heels of an 85% increase in total sales from 2007 to 2008.
The median home price for single family detached homes in February of this year was $167,000 for Sacramento and the City of West Sacramento. The last time we saw a median price as low as $167,000 was in April of 2001. Median price is now 65% of what it was at the same time last year.
So what does all of this mean? Prices are down and homes are selling (in record numbers)!
Stay tuned.
I love being a pet owner in Sacramento! I had the opportunity on Saturday afternoon to wander with my two dogs through William Land Park. The semi-recent addition of the jogging trail has made our walks just that much better, with a level surface and fewer mud puddles. Fellow Land Park trail users have always been courteous and dog-friendly. Land Park offers great views and plenty of squirrel watching!
One of our other favorite doggy outings is to frequent "Partner Park" in South Land Park. With plenty of space to run and plenty of trees for shade, Partner Park makes a great place for nearby residents to bring their dogs. My two dogs and I enjoy making a couple of laps around the park, introducing ourselves to dogs and owners alike as we walk. There are benches and chairs for owners to sit and watch, plenty of space for throwing a ball or frisbee, a couple of different water stations for the dogs to quench their thirst (or get their paws wet) and garbage cans for...er...garbage.
I also stumbled across the Regency Community dog park on Sunday while playing soccer. I was impressed that the park was divided into two separate sections, one for smaller dogs and one for larger dogs. The park seemed clean and had plenty of visitors during the two hours I was there. Though I don't recall many shade trees, the spaces were plenty large with benches, grass and plenty of pup-friendly amenities.
If you are a dog owner with "social" dogs, I would encourage you to take a look at the many dog parks that Sacramento has to offer!
It seems that every day I hear of a new scam to "help" people who are struggling to make their mortgage payments. I have seen and heard dozens of advertisements for companies who will help you with your loan modification for a large fee. While I am sure that some companies may be worth every penny that they charge, many people with mortgage trouble can get help at NO COST!
In Sacramento, loan modification help can be found in a couple of places. The Sacramento Home Loan Counseling Center, located in the Sacramento Association of Realtors building on Howe Avenue, is a wonderful resource for information on preventing foreclosure and loan modifications. They offer services in English, Spanish and Russian. Their services are at no cost. Neighborworks is another great local resource for help with your questions about loan modifications, whether or not you qualify and how to get the help you need.
For those who need guidance outside of the Sacramento area, HOPE NOW is a national program to help homeowners in distress. Once again, their services are completely free.
On Tuesday, the Sacramento Association of Realtors invited Leslie Appleton-Young, the Chief Economist and Vice President of the California Association of Realtors to share her thoughts on the 2009 California Real Estate Market. Ms. Appleton-Young began her presentation with an update on the economy both in the state of California and in the United States as a whole. She then focused on the California real estate market before addressing the Sacramento Real Estate Market specifically. She made no secret of the fact that we are living in unprecedented times. We have not seen an economy like this before, nor does anyone seem to know what to expect. Though the statistics Leslie presented were sobering, she did make a few points that were encouraging for the county of Sacramento.
The economy of the United States, as Ms. Appleton-Young reported, continues to be affected and, conversely, to effect a struggling global economy. Gross domestic product, consumer confidence, stocks, home sales, home prices and number of jobs have all shown decreases in the last year. One of the silver linings offered by Ms. Appleton-Young is that it appears that we, as a country, have finally started to save our money again. Though times are tough for everyone, Americans appear to be making smarter choices about their spending.
The outlook for the California real estate market was encouraging, in that, the number of detached existing home sales went up in 2008 to nearly 440,000 units, an increase of 26.7% from 2007. Incidentally, the number of units sold in 2007 (approximately 350,000) was the low point in the number of California home sales since 1995. One set of statistics that I found especially interesting was an analysis of when regions throughout California reached their peak median price. As an entire state, California peaked at a median price of $594,530 in May of 2007. Sacramento, however, reached its peak in August of 2005 at a median price of $394,450. One of the last regions to peak in median price was San Francisco, whose median price of $853,910 was in May of 2007. The silver lining? As one of the first regions to begin the descent in median price, hopefully Sacramento County will be one of the first on its way out of the California real estate market slump.
One of the key issues to the decreasing median price in Sacramento County as well as the state of California is that the majority of the homes that are selling are in the lower end of the price range. As of the end of 2008, nearly 82% of the homes sold in California were under $500,000. Some more good news? The number of sales of existing detached homes in Sacramento County was up 88.9% in 2008 as compared to 2007. And, the number of homes sold in January of 2009 was more than double the number of homes sold in January of 2008 in Sacramento County! The other side of that coin is that the median price in Sacramento County was down 36.8% in 2008 as compared to 2007.
Where do we go from here? Who really knows? But, with prices in Sacramento County lower than ever, a decreasing inventory of unsold homes and the number of home sales increasing - what better time to buy than now?
In the past, open houses held on a rainy day offered the opportunity for Realtors to catch up on some reading or return phone calls. Many have even cancelled open houses on rainy days because of lack of buyer interest in braving the wet weather. However, our most recent storm system hasn't seemed to slow buyer interest in Land Park.
I held a house open in Land Park three weeks ago and had well over 30 people attend. Two weeks ago, in the POURING rain, well over a dozen souls braved the weather to visit the open house, arriving in galoshes and carrying umbrellas. And, while I took this last Sunday off from having an open house, two of my colleagues reported over twenty people in attendance. How wonderful!
It's great to see so many smiling faces on Sunday afternoons! I hope to see you again...rain or shine!
www.KellieSwayne.com
Kellie is proud to be a part of the team at Dunnigan. She is working with buyers and sellers in Sacramento neighborhoods like Land Park, East Sacramento, Curtis Park, and Downtown/Midtown.
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