Market Gloomy? Statistics tell a different story!

I am a firm believer in the Brian Buffini system of doing business and one of the things that Mr. Buffini says is: KNOW YOUR STATISTICS!

What I believed to be the norm in the Sacramento and Placer county markets was not the same picture the statistics present. My general thoughts through what I was hearing from those in the industry and most commonly the media spoke emphatically about the large supply of REO's. When you drive down the streets you could see sign after sign of the foreclosures, short sales and conventional sales caused by divorce, relocation or simply just because. I decided to get out the statistics for both Placer county in September and Sacramento County in October to see just exactly what was going on.

First, I want to preface this by saying there is a lot of FHA, inventory, houses sitting for a long time, a buyers market if you will. Here is what I found out to be true in both Placer county and Sacramento county.

Information based on the Multiple Listing Service data from Metrolist compiled by the respective associations.

                                                              Sacramento                                  Placer

average DOM of 1-30                                         58.8%                                         54.95%

31-60                                                                      12.74%                                       15.5%

# OF MONTHS INVENTORY                               3.5 MONTHS                               N/A

TOTAL NUMBER OF CLOSED ESCROWS         2103                                           424

%CHANGE FROM LAST YEAR                        173.1%                                      91.9%

MEDIAN PRICE(sfr)                                        $195,100                                   $314,450

% SOLD UNDER 300k                                        80.8%                                          40.6%

TYPE OF FINANCING UNITS SOLD (sfr, CONDO, PUD ONLY)

CASH                                                                      440                                                63

CONVENTIONAL                                                  1,202                                             270

FHA                                                                         420                                                64

VA                                                                            42                                                  10

OTHER                                                                   135                                                17

I don't know about you but these statistics tell a story. The market is moving and homes are selling. We were one of the first in the downturn so maybe we are seeing some of the light sooner. This is location specific and meant to be thought provoking. What are the numbers in your area? It is always great to know your market.