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On Tomorrows "Today" show on NBC (Wednesday, May 28th), Davis, California will be featured as one of the five friendliest cities in the United Sates.  It was so named in a recent book by NBC contributor Barbara Cook entitled "Nextville: Amazing Places to Live the Rest of Your Life".

Davis has been known as a bicycle friendly town and has received national, and international attention for its progressive housing developments. In the late 1970's and early 80's, First Lady Rosalynn Carter, Prince Charles and French President Francois Mitterrand visited the Village Homes development in west Davis. President Carter later mentioned the environmental strides of Davis in an Oval Office speech.

I review the other unique qualities about Davis in my list The Top…

I have been sensing an increase in activity in the Davis real estate market , as well as the rest of Yolo County, for the past 6 to 8 weeks. As my previous posts revealed, the buyers came out with the spring weather in northern California.

The numbers year-to-date bear this out for existing homes sales, as the number of homes sold increased again in April, after an up-tick in March.  Asking prices had to come down to spur the volume of home sales, thus the median price was going lower in April and down significantly from April of last year.

The existing home sales are being driven largely by first time buyers and investors who are snapping up the condos, entry level homes, bank owned & short-sales. They are driving the volume increase as the same market …

The Davis market has definitely heated up in the past 60 days. My buyer business has exploded and other agents I speak with say that their business is up also.  Even the Home Inspection team I usually use tells me his company is fully booked and has been for a few weeks.

The biggest increase in business seems to come from out of town buyers, specifically the parents of students attending the University of California at Davis. Many more parents these days are savvy about the financial advantages of buying a home in Davis for their son or daughter to live in while attending college. 

Each spring the University has it's annual Picnic Day (one of the Top Ten Reasons to Live in Davis). It is a giant open house at the University with festivities and a parade.…

Speaking of  the greater Sacramento Region, it seems as if $200,000 is the level at which demand steps up to meet the supply.  Reports are that homes at $200,000 and below are experiencing multiple offers as of late.

My previous post points out however that precious few of these low priced homes are available in Davis and Winters. Woodland and Sacramento seem to have more supply.

As mortgage requirements get tighter, it is investors filling the void. First time buyers struggle against current eceonomic conditions to save a down payment and qualify, while experienced investors with cash and financing snap up the bargains.

There is no doubt that housing in Yolo County and Sacramento County is becoming more affordable. In my next post, I will provide some…

I was recently comparing the available homes for sale in three of the markets I serve.....Davis, Woodland and West Sacramento, California.

I was looking at the three markets from the perspective of a single-family home investor or a first time buyer. The object was to find a single family home with 3 bedrooms, priced at less than $225,000. This would be a good home for an entry-level buyer, or could also be an attractive rental home, depending on your investment goals.

The three cities could not be more different. Although similar in population - West Sacramento is the smallest city, with about 45,000 residents and Davis has about 65,000, Woodland falling between them - they could not be more different as real estate markets.

My search showed Woodland…

I have noticed in the last two weeks that business is picking up.  Now, maybe this is just the post-Super Bowl surge and the warmer weather we are having, but I think it's more than that. 

Web site traffic has picked up.  Agent hits on my MLS listings have increased markedly.

My open houses have been very busy the last two weekends, the kind of open houses where there are two or three groups of people in the home at the same time.  At one open house I had to extend the time because people just kept arriving.

It is not just lookie-loos, I'm seeing an increase in transactions too. Dropping interest rates are a factor as people looking are thinking they may be even lower when they find a home and lock in the rates. 

In the past three days I have written…

Armed with the knowledge of recent results and current market conditions can make you a better buyer and a more savvy seller of real estate in the Davis  and Woodland California markets. By studying the market, a buyer will be able to "buy right" and a seller will have a more realistic expectation of how long it may take to sell their home in todays real estate market. Toward that end, I supply my readers with recent market results and current conditions on a regular basis. Here is the January 2008 update:    

December 2007 Results

DAVIS (Single Family Homes)

• 18 Homes Sold
• Median Price =  $547,500
• Average Days on Market = 69
• Percent of Asking Price Received  = 95%
• Lowest Priced Home = $290,000
• Highest Priced Home =…

Here is a quick comparison of how the real estate markets in Davis and Woodland, California fared in 2007 versus the year end totals for 2006.  First, let's look at Davis:

  DAVIS,California                   2006 2007   Change           Number of Homes Sold 531 507   -4.50%     …