Keep it Real in Sacramento

If you read the headline in the Sacramento Bee this morning, “Home Sales up for 2^nd month” it might give you a feeling that our real estate market is doing pretty well after almost three years of slumping.  Don’t get me wrong, I am feeling optimistic about eventually getting back to a balanced real estate market but when you get behind some of the numbers it is pretty clear we have a ways to go.

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Approximately 183,000 at-risk homeowners were provided loan workouts in April, 23,000 more than in March, according to a new report from HOPE NOW, a private sector alliance of mortgage servicers, counselors, and investors working to prevent home foreclosures across the country. The April numbers represent the highest number of workouts provided through HOPE NOW since the program was launched in July 2007, according to the alliance.

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The number of vacant homes for sale in the United States set a new record in the first quarter of 2008, the U.S. Census Bureau reported Monday.

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Get this, now is the time when inventory of homes on the market traditionally increases and should continue to so as we move into summer but inventory is remarkably stable right now.  Even with the large numbers of foreclosures in the Sacramento area during the first quarter we are seeing inventory staying right around 15,000 and even edged down last week.  We still have more “For Sale”  homes than wanted to achieve a balanced market but the fact that it is not increasing rapidly as it has in the past two years is very good news.  For sellers the icing on this cake is, believe it or not, according to our friends at HousingTracker the median asking price has actually increased in the past week.  For the week ending yesterday, the median asking price was $307,000 up $2,000 from the previous week.

It is just a number but when you think about the families having to move from their homes and lives disrupted, 5,278 foreclosures in Sacramento and surrounding counties during the past three months is staggering. For more details about the Sacramento foreclosures check out my column, “Foreclosures Skyrocket, “over at Rocklin & Roseville Today.

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Yesterday the Senate announced that it had reached a bipartisan compromise on a plan to aid families facing foreclosure.  This is good news as the lawmakers have been unable to reach agreement on some of the key provisions already passed by the house.

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From the Sacramento Bee – March 14, 2008

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Well, if I didn’t have it before, the extra daylight at the end of the day has certainly brought on a bit of Spring Fever in me as well as the Sacramento real estate market.  At MagnumOne Realty we have all been busy which reminds me we really need to find another agent who believes in building relationships with service and exceeding client expectations. 

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