Crescent City/Del Norte County Market Report for 2008 -
Let's get started. I'm not going to bore you with December's market report. It was about what you would expect, 11 residential listings sold, median price $144,000 and 36% of the solds were REO's (bank owned or foreclosure properties). December was the third straight month foreclosure sales have increased and I'm sure that trend will continue.
What happened in my market for the year? Let me point out a few things before I dump my stats on you. Our MLS posts sold sales in the year they open escrow, therefore, there are some pendings and contingency sales that could have an affect on these stats, but the median price of these open escrows are consistent with the median price of the solds for 2008.
2008 residential sold listings at a glance:
|
Price range
|
% of Current Active Listings
|
% of 2008 sales
|
|
199,000 & under
|
34%
|
56%
|
|
200,000-299,000
|
25%
|
30%
|
|
300,000-399,000
|
32%
|
8%
|
|
400,000-499,000
|
10%
|
3%
|
|
500,000-599,000
|
5%
|
2%
|
|
600,000-699,000
|
2%
|
0
|
|
700,000-up
|
9%
|
Less than 1%
|
Del Norte County had a 26% decrease in the number of sales in 2008 over 2007's 212 residential listings sold. However, not too bad of news here, the median residential sold only fell 10% from 2007 and 16% from 2006, not too bad when you consider the rest of California's real estate market is in free fall status.
Why is Del Norte County faring so much better than the rest of California? Several reasons:
- We did not overbuild - New home construction didn't go berserk like it did in the rest of California. Consequently, our inventory, although it did hit 315 earlier this year, has stayed fairly consistent at under 300.
This is still a buyer's market and as you can see by the table above, the upper end homes are still suffering at this point, but boy, if you have a home to sell under $250,000, chances are very good it will sell quickly.
- Del Norte County is a quiet community with approximately 28,000 residents, no smog, mild weather AND NO TRAFFIC. People want to retire here and get out of the heat, smog and road rage and who can blame them?
- Our largest employers are the government in one form or another and therefore employment is rather stable compared with the huge lay-offs suffered in other parts of California.
- Our median priced residential listing is $265,000. For that price you can get a spanking, brand new 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom home in a new subdivision. For $450,000, we have homes listed on 1 acre or more, 3000+ sq. ft. in rural locations with redwood trees and close to the Smith River...what more could you want? Oh yeah, no traffic, and we have that too!
To recap, homes under $250,000 are selling at a brisk pace, upper end home sales are still sluggish, although we hope to see that change as prices continue to decline right along with interest rates making it easier for consumer's to purchase the home of their dreams in Del Norte County...Where the Redwoods Meet the Sea.
Check out foreclosure, custom home and luxury home listings or search the Del Norte County MLS and see what I mean:
I am here to assist you with your real estate needs!
Thank you for stopping by. Your comments on this post are welcomed and appreciated.
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Hey, great post. Thanks for the information about your area.