As of July 1st real estate agents in California now must have their license number on solicitation materials that are considered a point of first contact with consumers.  Most of the discussion that I have seen at my brokerage has talked about the need for updated business cards with the license number added, but I just ran across a memo produced by the California Association of Realtors that also includes the need for the license number to be included on websites.

I had asked several staff people with my local MLS if websites like my Sacramento site were considered first point of contact - they felt they were not.  In their opinion, first point of contact would be an email to a consumer - so I did not fully prepare for this change.  Well with the CAR…

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The city of West Sacramento has seen a dramatic decrease in inventory from May 2008 to May 2009.  May 2008 saw 249 homes for sale while the same period this year there were only 98 homes for sale.  The number of sold homes May 2008 was 67 and there were 89 sales pending that month.  In May 2009 67 homes were pending and 50 sold.  Part of the decrease in inventory is due to banks taking more time to complete the foreclosure process. Prices declined during this 12 month period from an average sales price of $285,000 in May 2008 to $236,000 in May 2009.

The state of California recently enacted a moratorium or a suspension on new foreclosures that will slow the foreclosure process even more.  This does not affect homes that were already in the foreclosure…

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Sacramento Market Stats for February 2009

I'm a little late on reporting this information-however there are a couple of interesting trends.

Inventory is still decreasing in Sacramento.  Trendgraphix is indicating there is only 3.5 months based on closed sales.  There has also been a 41.4% decrease in total inventory for sale in Sacramento county from February 2008.  Homes are being absobed more quickly but there is also an actual decline of properties coming onto the market.  The moratorium of new foreclosures placed by some of the big players has really started to affect the number of new properties hitting the market.  When banks/investors etc. start foreclosing on homes again, it will be very interesting to see if inventory starts to jump again or if…

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Sacramento home sales up 44% over February 2008. 

News reports keep indicating that Sacramento is one of the areas leading the nation in value declines however inventory is moving in the region.  Well it's not all inventory - distressed property is still the majority of sales in the region.  There has also been a decline in REO's to hit the market due to the moritorium that some of the lenders/Fannie Mae & others have imposed on themselves.

Nearly all the agents I have spoken with in the last couple of weeks all have stories of houses they know have been foreclosed on yet the new owner (the bank) has not yet listed the home for sale.  It seems like the lenders want to control the inventory hitting the market  so most everyone expects to see a wave of…

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Are Sacramento Investors Missing an Opportunity?

 

Currently Metrolist MLS is indicating there are 781 single family homes  listed for sale in the city of Sacramento for less than $100,000.  There are 1361 homes in Sacramento that are under $140,000.  That is a lot of inventory for an investor to choose from.

 

Most properties in this price range are in need of serious repairs and upgrades - with some being in such bad physical shape that they will not qualify for most forms of financing.   However for the right investor - this is the opportunity to purchase cash flow positive proprerties.  This is not the time to buy something with the expectation of selling it in a year for a $100,000 profit - many of the last round of buyers who did that are part…

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The current Sacramento real estate market is dominated by foreclosures, short sales and other distressed properties.  For the month of January, there were 1120 closed REO/foreclosed sales in the entire Sacramento county and there were only 1483 total home sales.  This number will be important to watch in the next few months as the moritorium on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on foreclosing on properties has ended.  While financing continues to be tough, buyers with some downpayment can get a good interest rate and those with some money or gifted funds should consider an FHA loan.  Athough the home needs to be in good condition in order to qualify for an FHA loan. 

 

Visit my site to  search all homes for sale  in  Sacramento.  Or you can search speficially…

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Trendgraphix information for January 2009 have been released.  The numbers point to a couple of interesting trends -  looking at inventory change in both the last year and 15 months indicates  the drop in available inventory county wide has been substantial.  Both the one year and 15 month categories are also showing dramatic increase in both pending and sold homes.  This change was fueled in part by continued downward pressure on prices as well as the increased availability in bank owned homes.  Financing during this same time period has gotten tighter and shows that there are still a lot of willing buyers who are looking for the right opportunity. 

  1 year 15 months …

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The City of West Sacramento across the river from Sacramento is pretty typical for the region.  There have been many homes in pre-foreclosure or taken back by the lender.  While West Sacramento has a lot going for it and is a very conveient location to downtown  Sacramento, this was an area with a lot of subprime loans.  Here are some housing statistics for West Sac. for the past 6 months.

 

All Properties West Sac North 6 months   June 08 Nov 08 % Change For Sale 67 51 -23.9%  Sold 15 12 … Read Full Post