A Little Bit of Good News

Jim Wasserman reports the following in today's Sacramento Bee breaking news. Notice the median sales price in El Dorado County did not drop as much as in the surrounding counties.

Sac Bee report:
A surge of activity in April pushed Sacramento-area home sales to the highest levels in almost a year -- and produced the first year-over-year sales gains in Sacramento County in 37 months, DataQuick Information Systems reported Monday.
Overall, three counties -- Sacramento, Sutter and Yuba -- posted sales gains over the same time last year.
In April, 3,163 homes closed escrow in Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties during, according to La Jolla-based DataQuick. It was the first time sales broke the 3,000 barrier since July
The numbers confirm what many in the real estate industry have been saying in recent weeks: there's been a spate of buying and owners are getting multiple offers for discounted properties.
In Sacramento County, sales of new and existing homes totaled 1,961 in April, the highest since Sept. 2006, according to DataQuick.
The April sales tally was 26.3 percent higher than April 2007 -- the first time that year-over-year sales in the county have posted a gain since March 2005, DataQuick reported. Yuba County also posted a 23.3 percent year-over gain, its first in several years. Sutter County posted a 1.1 percent gain in year-over-year sales, its first in almost a year, according to DataQuick.
Elsewhere, sales were slower. Yolo County sales were down about 1.1 percent from the period last year -- after mostly double-digit monthly declines since the housing boom began to lose steam regionally in late 2005 and early 2006.
April sales in Placer County remained 8.5 percent below April 2007, according to DataQuick.
Besides the traditional spring-buying boost, what's driving sales in some counties? Prices have rapidly dropped with heavily discounted, bank-owned homes accounting for a majority of purchases in the eight-county capital region. That means the lower end of the housing market is fueling much of the surge.
Median sales prices -- where half the homes sell for more and half for less -- are down to Feb. 2003 levels in Sacramento County. The county's median sales price in April fell to $232,000 -- down 32 percent from a year ago and 40 percent off its Aug. 2005, high of $387,000.
The Sacramento Association of Realtors reported that 35.3 percent of sales in the county and in West Sacramento were for homes priced below $200,000 in April.
In Placer County only about 3 percent of sales are below $200,000, according to the Placer County Association of Realtors.
The county's median price in April was $352,000 -- roughly equal to prices in Oct. 2003, according to DataQuick. Prices for new and existing homes combined in Placer County are down nearly 22 percent from a year ago and down about one-third from an Aug. 2005 high of $525,000.
Elsewhere in the region:
• Median sales prices in April fell to $379,000 in El Dorado County, down nearly 12 percent from a year ago.
• Yolo County's median sales price dipped to $308,045, down nearly 27 percent from a year ago.
• Sutter County's April median was $221,500, down nearly one fourth from last year.
• The median Yuba County sales price was $199,500, down almost 31 percent from last year.