It is becoming increasingly difficult to find active listings that match the needs of my buyer clients in the Vacaville single family home market. This shows a local housing recovery and a healthy increase in the number of homes sold. December 2008 more than double the number of homes sold in Vacaville than the year before in December.

Foreclosure actions have been on hold for a few weeks and banks are supposed to be working with homeowners in distress situations but expect more NODs soon. Banks have been actively working with short sale offers and REO bank owned homes have been going into escrow with multiple offers.

Currently there are 296 single family homes (@ $177/sf average list price) on the market in Vacaville today Feb 3, 2009. (Prices range from $79,000 up to $1,375,000 with the average 1911sf home priced at $350,719).

FHA minimum down payments were increased to 3.5% on Jan 1st, 2009, the max limits for these loans was capped out at $400,200 after almost 9 months of being at $417,000 in Solano county.

Energy efficient mortgages and more agreeable REO banks have put the bank owned homes into better condition for today's buyers.

Don't forget to procure a one year home warranty on these homes since they are buying properties with few disclosures on them by the banks' own admission, they are not the occupants, banks don't know the condition of the homes.

Write to your congressman/woman and let them know that it would surely be a good thing that if at some time the current family living in that home could be given the same offer/opportunity as the buyers are offered in a short sale or REO purchase, many people have time and many times much money invested in that home and are just as likely deserving of consideration. Keeping the homeowner in their home is not a bad thing.