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April 2010 Benicia & Vallejo Home Sales

Ben-Vjo Home Sale Reports - AprilCurious what that Benicia home down the street sold for last month? Wonder how much your Vallejo neighbor sold his home sold for? Or how long it took a certain Vallejo or Benicia home to sell?

Just download our April Benicia and Vallejo Home Sale Reports for those answers and more. Some highlights from April’s Benicia & Vallejo Home Sale Reports appears below. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

April Solano Home Sales Report: Prices Holding Steady And Up County-Wide Over Last Year

April’s home sales numbers are in for Solano County and on a county-wide basis, the median price last month was $200,000 — exactly the same as it was in March.

Vacaville, Vallejo and Suisun all reported median prices that were almost the same as the previous month, while Benicia’s median was way up and Fairfield’s was noticeably down.

April Median Sales PriceThe huge jump in Benicia’s median price is probably Read the rest of this entry »

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Why There May Be Almost Twice As Much State Tax Credit Money As Everyone Thought

$100 MillionAs  you’ll recall, back on Apr. 15,  I wrote that our state association, the California Assn. of Realtors, projected that the state’s new first-time and new-home buyer tax credits might all be gone within a matter of days, once May 1 arrived and eligible buyers started sending in their tax credit paperwork.

Well, it’s still too early to know for sure, but based on ‘early returns,’ CAR’s doom-and-gloom prediction may turn out to be rather exaggerated.

$100 Million Or $175 Million?

All along the state has been saying that only $100 million was allocated to fund the tax credit. But is that really true? Well kinda-sorta. Read the rest of this entry »

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Benicia Going Green…But Not For Much Longer

Benicia is very green these days, but that’s all about to change…and probably well before the end of May.

No, I’m not talking about the city’s environmental efforts. I’m talking about Benicia’s gorgeous green hills.Hastings Read the rest of this entry »

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Solano Home Buyers Get 2-Month Extension On 3.5% Fannie Mae Closing Cost Credit

Fannie Mae 3.5 Credit Non-Investors Who Buy A Fannie Mae Repo Can Still Get The Credit If They Close By June 30


In what amounts to an unexpected gift to buyers of Fannie Mae bank-owned homes in Solano County, the secondary mortgage market giant just announced that its 3.5% closing cost credit incentive program, which was scheduled to end Apr. 30, has been extended to June 30.

So if you buy one of the 96 Fannie Mae-owned homes in Solano County that are either presently for sale or about to come on the market and can close escrow in the next two months, you could be eligible for up to 3.5% in credits at close of escrow.

Of the 96 homes for sale in Solano, 89 are Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Solano Pending Home Sales Up, Inventory Down As Tax Credit Draws To A Close

Whether it’s due to the impending federal tax credit deadline or just the normal spring real estate market surge, home sale activity has definitely picked up in recent weeks in Solano County, which in turn weekly-solano-home-reporthas caused the supply of homes for sale to drop.

This past week marks the first time all year that all five cities in our Solano County market area have seen their inventory of homes decline in the same week.

Vallejo (-20) and Fairfield (-24) both experienced double-digit drops in their housing supply, while the other three cities saw a nominal decrease (Benicia & Fairfield -4 and Suisun -2).

Yet, even that is a significant change from Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Just 8 More Days Before The Federal Tax Credit Clock Strikes Midnight

Only 8 More DaysThe federal tax credit program has been around so long that it’s almost hard to remember when first-time buyers didn’t have Uncle Sam’s handout waiting for them the moment escrow closed.

Yet, in just 8 days, the first-time and move-up buyer federal tax credits will fade into the sunset.

If you’re a prospective buyer who’s eligible for the credit, keep in mind that you don’t have to close escrow by next Friday in order to be eligible for the $8,000 or $6,500 credit.

You only have to be in contract by April 30. As long as you have a binding contract by 11:59 pm on the 30th, you can close escrow all the way up until the end of June and still claim your share. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Inventory Of Available Homes Still Way Up For The Year Throughout Solano County

weekly-solano-home-reportYou’d never believe it if you talked to most buyers, but the inventory of homes for sale throughout Solano County is still up dramatically for the year.

Every city in our Solano market area has at least 20% more homes on the market today than it did at the beginning of January.

The leader is Vallejo, with a whopping 55% increase in 3-1/2 months. There are 374 homes on the market there right now, compared to 242 on Jan. 4.

The other four cities’ year-to-date increases, in descending order: Vacaville +37%, Fairfield +26%, Suisun + 24%, Benicia +20%.

Now, if you’re a buyer who’s been involved in countless multiple-offer negotiations, Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Benicia-Vallejo Monthly Home Sale Report: Details On Every Closed Sale For Mar. 2010

Sold HomeWant to know how much your neighbor’s home sold for or how long a certain home took to sell. It’s all here in the March Benicia and Vallejo Home Sale Reports.

Both reports show the address, sales price, days on market, net price change from start to finish and whether the home was a regular sale, short sale or REO (foreclosure).

You can download both reports by clicking on the links below. I publish this and other local Solano County home sales reports monthly, so be sure to visit HomeSection.com regularly.

Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Will California’s First-Time Buyer Tax Credit Money Run Out Almost Before It Begins?

Money Flying

$100 Million Could Be All Gone By Mother’s Day


California’s first-time buyer tax credit, which is slated to begin May 1, the day after the federal tax credit goes away, may be very short-lived, according to a just-release analysis by our state trade association, the California Assn. of Realtors (CAR).

According to CAR, the entire $100 million that the state legislature allocated for first-time buyer tax credits could be entirely used up in the first 10-20 days after the credit takes effect.

That means the money could be all spoken for shortly after Mother’s Day, if CAR’s prediction is accurate.

An email I received from CAR earlier today said that its economic team had looked at projected May sales and figured that all $100 million will likely be gone in the first few weeks of May. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »