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May ‘09 Solano Real Estate Report: Vallejo Leads The Way…Prices Up 20% In 1 Month

may-solano-reportIf May’s real estate sales results for Vallejo are any indication of what we can expect in the coming months for the rest of Solano County, the tide may have finally started to turn.

I just downloaded May’s home sales data, and as expected, it followed the same path as January, February, March and April, with strong sales throughout most of the county, thanks to home prices that are dramatically lower than they were just a year ago.

And nowhere are they any lower than in Vallejo, which has become a hotbed of activity for first-time buyers and investors, with multiple- and over-asking-price offers on almost everything under $300,000.

My prediction two months ago that the market probably bottomed out in March seems to be looking more and more accurate. But the big news right now is that home prices in the Vallejo, the lowest-priced city in the county finally seem to be heading north.

For the fourth straight month, Vallejo had 200+ home sales, followed by Fairfield/Green Valley (142), Vacaville (102), Suisun (42) and Benicia (22).

Solano County Median Price Up $15,000 In May

The median price county-wide for May was $190,000. That’s $15,000 higher than it was in April. Vallejo’s incredible numbers certainly influenced the outcome, since two of the five cities in the county actually saw their median price go down.

Here’s a city-by-city breakdown of May’s median price for each of the Solano County cities we serve (from highest to lowest):

  • Benicia – $332,450 (down from $360,000 in April)
  • Vacaville – $234,950 (up from $220,000)
  • Fairfield – $208,000 (almost the same — $205k last month)
  • Suisun – $161,500 (down from $170,000 in April)
  • Vallejo – $140,000 ($117,000 in April – up 20%)

Prices Down Dramatically From A Year Ago

While it’s good to see prices in some cities finally going up, they still have a long way to go before they return even to where they were a year ago.

County-wide, Solano’s median price of $190,000 is more than $100,000 below last May’s median of $296,000. Vallejo, meanwhile, with 248% more home sales this May than a year ago, still has a median price 45% lower than it was in May ‘08 ($255,000).

The story is pretty much the same throughout the county, but just with varying degrees. Fairfield (141%) and Vacaville (123%) both had more sales in May than a year ago and Suisun was almost the same (95%). But Benicia was a different story, with only 3/4 as many sales this May as a year ago.

This month’s report includes a wide variety of statistics, including:

  1. The low-high-and-median sales prices for each city
  2. Average days-on-market
  3. Number of distress & fair-market sales
  4. Month-by-month comparison for the first 5 months of 2009.

To follow Solano County’s sales activity and listing inventory on a weekly basis, visit our Market Update category and see our latest Weekly Real Estate report. That report usually appears on Monday or Tuesday of each week.

To download May’s Solano Real Estate report, click here.

To read April’s Solano report, click here.

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