Sac Bee Report on Home Sales

http://www.sacbee.com/103/v-print/story/1332806.html

Does this agree with my previous posting about the state of the Sacramento area marketplace?

Published Wednesday, Oct. 22, 2008
It was a big-bang ending for a turnaround summer.
September saw the highest number of home sales this year in the capital region as still more buyers bid against one another for heavily discounted bank repos, property researcher MDA DataQuick reported Tuesday.
The month that traditionally starts a fall slowdown showed the most activity since June 2006, as 4,369 buyers closed escrow during September in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, the La Jolla researcher said.
Analysts warned, however, that the sales began in weeks before a theme of potential economic collapse anchored daily newscasts and headlines.
"This tells us about people who were in the mood to buy well before the grim financial news hit the last few weeks," said MDA DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage. He said October sales will give a better reading of possible caution.
Still, LePage said, "September was a strong month." He called it a sixth straight month with sales higher than the same time last year.
"Sacramento is well into the first phase of the housing stabilization process, which starts with sales recovering on a year-over-year basis," he said.
September showed nearly 2,000 more escrow closings than September 2007. It was also 371 more sales than in August.
The burst of late-summer sales trimmed further the number of for-sale signs across the region, a sign that bank-owned homes – for now – are selling faster than they're being added to the market.
Sacramento researcher TrendGraphix reported 11,022 homes for sale in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties at September's end. That was 5,059 fewer than September 2007. One in four homes for sale in the region are bank repos, the firm said.
September's sales gain over August is a reversal of the usual trend that sees the year's escrow closings begin to decline in September. The same trend played out statewide as first-time buyers and investors scooped up some of the most affordable bargains in years.
California's home builders, meanwhile, pulled back hard on home starts.
Statewide, builders started 35 percent less single-family homes in September than the same month last year. Builders in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties started just 317 new homes in September, 26 percent lower than September 2007, according to the California Building Industry Association.
Sacramento County's median sales price – where half cost more and half cost less – was just barely above $200,000. The median was last below that symbolic level in April 2002, at $195,000, according to MDA DataQuick.
Such prices have created a "larger base of buyers now," said Angela Talent, mortgage strategist with Folsom-based Strategic Financial Services.
"A lot of the buyers who I couldn't qualify for a loan the last three years, they're able to qualify now," added Tamara Morgan, a Sacramento loan consultant for Wells Fargo.
Discounted foreclosures were 65.8 percent of September sales in Sacramento County, according to MDA DataQuick. Foreclosures were half of sales in the Los Angeles region and 42 percent of those in the Bay Area during September, the firm said.
Foreclosures are the primary driver of California prices falling 30 percent to 40 percent across the past year, LePage said. He said steep declines are mostly a phenomenon of neighborhoods heavily hit by defaults.
"It doesn't mean the typical house in Sacramento County has already lost half its value since the peak," he said.
Highlights of Tuesday's MDA Dataquick report:
• Sacramento County's $201,000 median September sales price for new and existing homes combined is 34.4 percent below the same time last year, and 48 percent below its 2005 peak of $387,000. Sales were up 126.4 percent from the same time last year.
• Placer County's $330,000 median price is 21.2 percent below September 2007 and down 37 percent from its 2005 high of $525,000. Sales were up 30 percent from last September.
• El Dorado County's September median price was $375,000, down 9.6 percent from the same time last year. Prices are now down 29.4 percent from the 2006 peak of $531,250. Monthly sales were up 29 percent from last year.
• Yolo County's median sales price in September was $274,500, down 28 percent from a year earlier. Prices are 42.4 percent lower now than their 2005 high of $474,00. September sales were up 68 percent over last year.