As recent numbers have come in, the general Sacramento Real Estate Market continues to see sales increases.  While much has been written that many of the local home sales have come from bank owned properties.  The general number being tossed around is every one in four homes currently listed for sale in the Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado counties area is a bank owned property.   There is a definite trend that our current available inventory is shrinking and median prices are holding steady for several months now.  For the tri-county area of Sacramento, Placer and El Dorado we are averaging right around 3.5 months of inventory.  This is drastically reduced from the high we experienced in September of 07 of 15 months of inventory.  In my opinion, this has a direct relationship to our median prices in all our surrounding counties have come to a point that inventory of all types, REO, Short Sales and traditional sales have reached such a value level that buyers ranging from investors to first time buyers are now active in the market.  At HomeStalkers Group, approximately 1/3 of our summer business has been from investors. 

 Yes, lenders are very cautious right now.  Unless you are paying cash (which many investors are) you will likely be required to put a minimum down payment of 6% for FHA backed loans to 20% for owner occupied loans and 30% for conventional financing for owner non occupied loans., but our local prices are at such a low median price that inventories are being swallowed up.  In September 08, we experienced 2,605 homes sold in the tri county area.  Compare this to the 1,592 units sold in September of 06 you can see we are on a  very aggressive pace to eat up inventory.  Until we see price per foot of homes start to exceed builders costs, we will likely not see much in the way of new home constructions.  All in all, our feeling is this is a fantastic time to purchase!

Market Trends:

Sacramento County's $201,000 median September sales price for new and existing homes combined is 34.4 percent below the same time last year, and 48 percent below its 2005 peak of $387,000. Sales were up 126.4 percent from the same time last year.

• Placer County's $330,000 median price is 21.2 percent below September 2007 and down 37 percent from its 2005 high of $525,000. Sales were up 30 percent from last September.

• El Dorado County's September median price was $375,000, down 9.6 percent from the same time last year. Prices are now down 29.4 percent from the 2006 peak of $531,250. Monthly sales were up 29 percent from last year.

• Yolo County's median sales price in September was $274,500, down 28 percent from a year earlier. Prices are 42.4 percent lower now than their 2005 high of $474,00. September sales were up 68 percent over last year.

We get many questions on our Median prices being low, all bit steady.  Personally, our team has seen an increase of lower-middle priced homes in many areas rising in price, but median prices are being held down due to the increasing inventory and drastic price reducitions of the higher end homes.  If you are in the market for a move up home, it would be hard to think of a better time to consider moving up!