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What Your Neighbor’s Home Sold For Part II: BENICIA Home Sales Report For February

March 6th, 2009 categories: Benicia, Buying, Market Update, Selling, Vallejo

benicia-home-sales-feb-2009-croppedYesterday, I posted a list of every home that sold in Vallejo last month (200 in all). Today, it’s Benicia’s turn.

Click on the adjacent graphic to see the complete report, which lists every home that closed escrow in Benicia last month.

Compared to the five-page Vallejo list that I published yesterday, the Benicia report is pretty thin. In fact, there was one fewer home sale in Benicia this February than in February ‘08. That’s a striking contrast to the rest of Solano County, where home sales for both January and February are up dramatically over a year ago (by comparison, Vallejo had almost five times as many sales this February than a year ago).

Prices are the main reason Benicia’s home sales haven’t soared like they have in Vallejo and its other Solano County sister cities so far this year. Even though Benicia’s home prices are definitely lower than they were a year ago, they haven’t plummeted nearly as low as they have in the rest of Solano County.

So the serious investors and entry-level buyers have largely bypassed Benicia in favor of cities where 80%-90% of the listings are bargain-priced distress sales.

To illustrate the huge disparity in prices between the two Solano County neighbors, the lowest priced sale in Benicia last month was $172,000. By comparison, more than half of Vallejo’s February sales (121 out of 200) sold for less than that.

So it’s not surprising that Benicia’s $300,000 median home price for February was more than twice what it was in Vallejo ($135,000).

Here are some other highlights of Benicia’s February Home Sales Report (click here to view the entire report):

  • That lowest priced sale was a condominium on East T St.
  • The highest priced sale in Benicia last month was a 3,160 sq. ft. home on St. Catherines Ln. that sold for $600,000.
  • Four of the 13 sales were above the original list price. A home on Raymond Dr. led that category with a sale $20,100 above its starting price.
  • The home with the greatest difference between its original list price and sales price was that same home on St. Catherines Ln., which sold for almost $165,000 less than its beginning price.
  • Almost half the homes sold for a price at least $65,000 below its original list price.
  • Eight of the 13 closed sales were distressed properties (5 bank-owned and 3 short sales).

The first week of each month, I download the statistics and prepare this custom report for both Benicia and Vallejo. So be sure to check back next month to see how March fared.

Throughout the month, I regularly post a number of articles and reports that are designed to keep you updated on the local market. If you’d like to receive these updates automatically, either via email or your Feed Reader, click here.

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This entry was posted on Friday, March 6th, 2009 at 3:35 pm and is filed under Benicia, Buying, Market Update, Selling, Vallejo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  1. Rachel said at March 11th, 2009 at 10:51 am

    Hi,
    Me again,
    Is there a way to put me in touch with someone able to buy a house now that couldn’t before?
    Thanks,
    Rachel
    553-6824

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