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How Many Foreclosures Does Your City Have?
October 23rd, 2008 categories: Buying, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Market Update, Selling
A little over a month ago, I posted a chart illustrating how many distressed properties are on the market in the various communities within our market area. About six weeks have passed since I downloaded the data for that report, so I figured it was probably time to update the data and see if there have been any changes.
Well, if you’re a buyer, the news is good. If you’re a seller, it’s not so good – at least if you look at the overall numbers across all 19 cities in our market area. Before I get into the current data, let’s briefly recap the figures from my last report, which was based on MLS data as of Sept. 11.
At that time, out of 6,728 total listings, 65% were distressed-sale (either bank-owned or short-sale) listings. Four cities – Antioch (86%), Pittsburg (86%), Vallejo (82%) and Suisun (80%) led the way with highest percentage of distressed sale listings. At the other end of the scale, with the lowest percentages, were Alamo (1%), Orinda (6%), Lafayette (7%) and Moraga (10%).
Now, six weeks later, we have 7,161 listings (an inventory increase of 433 new listings). Of those, 72% are now distressed-sale listings. That’s a seven percent increase in just six weeks! The same four cities lead the way with the highest percentage of distressed properties, but their percentages are even higher now than they were in mid-September: Antioch (91%), Pittsburg (91%), Suisun (87%) and Vallejo (86%).
It’s interesting to note that Vallejo went from 82% distressed-sale listings six weeks ago to 86% today, but actually dropped a notch, from the third highest to the fourth highest in the 19 city market area. That’s because Suisun went from 192 distressed listings to 257, which caused its percentage to balloon from 80% to 87%.
Even some of those communities with the fewest distress-sale listings six weeks ago saw a small increase in their numbers. Lafayette stayed the same, with 7%, but Alamo went from 1% to 9%, Moraga from 10% to 12%, and Orinda from 6% to 14%. Danville also increased, from 12% to 16%, as did Walnut Creek, from 20% to 24%.
The same was true here in Benicia, which is in the middle of the pack, far better than the other communities in Solano County, but not nearly as immune from the distress-sale woes as those higher-priced parts of Central Contra Costa County.
Last month, Benicia had 55 distress-sale listings out of 142 homes on the market (39%). This month, out of 153 active listings, 69 are either bank-owned or short sales (45%). That percentage put is it ahead of Antioch, Pittsburg, Suisun, Vallejo, Oakley, Fairfield-Green Valley, Brentwood, Concord, Vacaville, and Martinez, but worse than the aforementioned Lafayette, Alamo, Moraga, Orinda, Danville, and Walnut Creek as well as Clayton and Pleasant Hill.
More than anything I’ve seen, this chart really gives a clear local snapshot into what’s really happening out in our local marketplace. It’s great information for both buyers and sellers. For buyers, it provides a great insight into just how much they have to choose from in the various cities. For sellers, it graphically illustrates why it’s so important to price your home realistically.
I plan to continue to update this data and will post a new chart about every six weeks (sooner if we notice any significant changes). As always, I welcome your comments. If you have questions about these figures or want to look at any of these communities more closely, we’ll be happy to assist you (as long as you’re not already in a working relationship with another real estate agent).
