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FHA & Conventional Loans About To Evaporate For Some Benicia, Vallejo Homebuyers?

Rod Herman — Sat, 18 Jun 2011 15:15:22 +0000

Unless Congress steps in soon, some Benicia, Vallejo homebuyers may find it impossible to get an FHA or conventional loan by early Fall.

That’s because loan limits for the two loan programs that cover probably at least 90% of the loans originated in Solano County are set to change come Oct. 1.

And barring Congressional action, the maximum you can borrow under both programs is going to drop substantially, which means that many Benicia, Vallejo and Solano County home buyers could suddenly find themselves needing to come up with tens of thousands more in down payment or accept a costlier “jumbo” loan.

Right now, the maximum you can borrow with an FHA or conventional loan is $557,500. But as it stands right now, after September 30, the conforming loan limit in Solano County will drop to $417,000 and the FHA limit to $400,200, which is certain to impact local borrowers who are planning to finance a home with a loan amount that exceeds the new limits.

In plain English, that means that any borrower in Solano County who is today planning to buy a home for more than $415,000 with an FHA loan or more than $463,000 with a conventional loan could find getting a loan potentially tougher and definitely more expensive if they wait until October.

If you’re not in contract by the end of September and want to use an FHA or conventional loan on a home that exceeds the new loan limits, your only options will be to come up with a large enough down payment to cover the difference or try to qualify for a costlier jumbo loan.

And it’s not just Solano County that’s affected. Unless Congress steps in and extends the current loan limits, which have been in effect since 2008, FHA and conventional loan limits will drop in every Bay Area county in October.

The biggest decline for FHA loans in the Bay Area will be right here in Solano County, where the FHA limit will drop by $157,300 (the conventional loan limit in Solano will fall by $140,500). With the exception of Napa and Sonoma Counties, most other Bay Area counties will see their loan limits fall about $100,000.

And Solano will be the only Bay Area county where FHA and conventional loans will have different loan limits.

Here are the new scheduled loan limits for the rest of the Bay Area:

Napa County – from $729,750 to $592,250.
Sonoma County — from $662,500 to $520,950.
Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco, San Mateo & Santa Clara Counties — from $729,750 to $625,500.

Now, it’s only June, so a lot can happen between now and the end of September. It’s possible that lobbyists will succeed in getting Congress to extend the current loan limits or at least come up with an amount somewhere between today’s limits and the scheduled Oct. 1 figures.

I’ll be keeping an eye on this and will post updates if anything changes.

What The End Of The Rainy Season Means For Some Benicia-Vallejo Short Sale Buyers

Rod Herman — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 06:56:26 +0000

If you’re buying a vacant short sale property in Benicia, Vallejo or elsewhere in the Bay Area, it’s important to know that we’re getting close to the time of year when what you see today may not be exactly what you see the day escrow closes.

That’s because in another month or so, we’ll be at the end of the rainy season, which means that the yards of many of those short sale listings will go from lush and green to dry and brown — and often within a matter of days.

Green Today, Brown Tomorrow

While the hills are still green and the ground is still moist from last week’s downpours, the warm, sunny weather of the last few days reminds us that we’re nearing the end of the rainy season.

In another month or so, it will be time to start watering, mowing and pruning on a regular basis, which often doesn’t happen when the responsibility falls on the shoulders of a short sale homeowner who’s already moved out.

If you buy and close escrow on a short sale between October and April, you usually get a free pass, since mother nature keeps things moist. But when the warmer weather arrives, unless someone’s there to water, fertilize, trim, mow, edge and pull the weeds, that lush green lawn you saw in March can quickly turn to a dry brown carpet by early May.

And if you’re buying a short sale, where you might be waiting two, three, four months or more for the seller’s lender to approve the sale, you could end up in a situation where a big chunk of the money you had allocated for carpet, paint, cabinets or appliances might end up going to unexpected landscaping instead.

It’s In The Contract, However…

On page 4 of the standard California purchase contract, it says that the seller shall maintain the property “in substantially the same condition as on the date of Acceptance.” But I can tell you from experience that many sellers lose interest in maintaining the property the moment they stop making their payments.

And while a buyer may have contractual recourse against a seller who lets the lawns die and the weeds grow three feet tall, most buyers realize that the odds of getting any money from of a judgement against a seller who can’t even make their mortgage payments are pretty slim.

Some buyers, therefore, ask the seller for permission to take care of the yards until escrow closes. But others are reluctant to spend time and money on yard care without any certainty that the seller’s lender is even going to approve the sale.

As the rainy season draws to a close, buyers who are nearing the close of escrow on a vacant short sale find themselves in a race against the clock — hoping that escrow closes before the yards die off completely. And those who are just starting out either have to resign themselves to possibly maintaining the yard themselves or realize that the nicely landscaped yard they see today may not be what it’s going to look like a few months from now.

Lawns & Trees Instead Of Granite & Windows

Last year, a client of ours purchased a home from a short sale seller which took over a year from the time the offer was accepted until it closed. In the spring of 2009, when he wrote his offer, the house was occupied and the lawns were lush and green. By the time he closed, the house had long been vacant and weeds were the only thing growing in the front and back yards.

To make matters worse, when we did the final walk-thru, we found a weed abatement citation stapled to the house. The seller willingly paid for the citation, but the buyer was still faced with an arduous landscaping job. He definitely wasn’t planning to landscape when he wrote his offer a year earlier, but it became an unfortunate necessity along the way, thanks to the seller’s lack of maintenance.

I wish I could say that this was the exception, but unfortunately, with vacant (and even some owner-occupied) short sale properties, yard maintenance is often not on the seller’s to-do list.

Don’t Let Today’s Green Hills Fool You

Right now, there are 56 vacant singly family home short sale listings on the market in Vallejo and Benicia. Plus another 75 such short sales are presently in escrow.

Today, thanks to the recent rainfall, there’s enough moisture in the ground to keep these yards green. But if you’re planning to buy a short sale and either aren’t yet in contract or don’t expect to close before mid-May, don’t fall in love with the landscaping unless you’re sure the seller is going to maintain or you’re planning to do that work yourself.

Otherwise, there’s a good chance that you’ll be in for a big and potentially costly surprise by Memorial Day.

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.600 Is A Pretty Good Batting Average…Unless You’re Talking About Short Sales

Rod Herman — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 03:10:14 +0000

A few days ago, our state association, the California Assn. of Realtors, released the results of a recent survey which claims that only three out of every five attempted short sales in the state actually went through.

A .600 batting average may be great if you’re Barry Bonds, but it’s not so great if you’re talking about the percentage of short sales that were successfully completed.

The report lays blame with the banks for dragging out the process for months and months on end. And to be sure, with some banks, that’s definitely an accurate statement. But others, like Bank of America and Wells Fargo have made great strides in streamlining the process over the past 12 months.

In fact, on all of the short sales I’ve negotiated with Bank of America since last summer, I’ve gotten responses in about 30 days or less. That’s a far, far cry from what was happening a year ago — when their norm was a good 6-8 month wait (if you were lucky).

I don’t dispute CAR’s findings, but based on my own personal experience with representing short sale clients here in Benicia, Vallejo and elsewhere in Solano and Contra Costa counties, I think it’s fair to point out that while many banks are definitely the root of the problem, some of the blame for that 40% failure rate lies with sellers or their agents.

Now, I certainly haven’t had a 100% success rate and anyone who tells you they have isn’t telling the truth.

But by the same token, I’m sure I’m well above the 60% figure that CAR’s survey suggests.

What’s more, I’m sure colleagues of mine who know what it takes to successfully negotiate a short sale would say the same thing.

In my experience, if an agent is only successful on 3 out of every 5 short sales, they’re either not doing something right, are plagued by sellers who aren’t really committed to the short sale process or are in the midst of a run of incredibly bad luck.

Most of the time, the handwriting’s on the wall for all to see, with plenty of tell-tale signs that this particular short sale has little chance of going through.

Here are some signs you may be in for a bumpy short sale road:

The listing agent doesn’t return the buyer’s agent’s phone calls or emails. Remember, this is the same person you’ll be relying on to process the short sale with the seller’s lender. If he or she won’t even respond to inquiries about the property, what are the odds of that person taking control of the short sale process?

The seller makes it very difficult to see the home. If the sellers aren’t motivated to even let a prospective buyer see the property, what are the chances they’ll provide all the necessary short sale documents to their agent? Without that paperwork, there’s no chance of the lender approving the sale.

Uncooperative tenants. If there’s a tenant living there, they may not be thrilled about cooperating with the seller if they’re paying rent while the sellers aren’t making their mortgage payments. If they’re uncooperative in letting the house be shown, what are the odds that they’ll actually move out when escrow closes? Plus, they might even have a long-term lease, which would entitle them to stay there until it expires.

The listing has been on MLS a while, but no photos. If the listing agent is engaged in marketing the property, he or she should have a variety of photos of the house on the MLS. If there are none or perhaps only a few exterior shots, it may be a sign that the listing agent hasn’t even seen the home, which could be another sign that the listing isn’t really a high priority to that agent.

The listing agent is from far, far away. Most serious sellers will list their home with an agent who is familiar with their home and their community. Occasionally, a short sale is listed with an agent from way out of the area. It’s very difficult to adequately represent the seller from 400 miles away. I came across a local property recently where the listing agent was from the Palm Springs area and had it listed only in the PS area’s MLS. It was nowhere to be found in any Bay Area MLS system.

Is it really a hardship? If you see newer vehicles, a lot of high-priced personal items or other signs that give the appearance that the seller has plenty of cash, that could be an indication that the seller may not have a legitimate hardship. And without a real financial, medical or life-event hardship, getting a short sale approved is much more difficult.

A few days ago, I wrote a post about 10 key short sale factors that an agent or seller can directly control. As I pointed out in that post, unless you pay attention to those 10 important short sale elements, your chances of short sale success drops considerably.

That’s why the seller has to be fully engaged and the listing agent really has to know his or her stuff in order to have a realistic chance of getting short sale approval.

Short sales can be complicated and there’s no guarantee the bank will approve them.

But, still, if you’re talking about an experienced short sale agent, 60% seems like an awfully low success rate to me.

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What Obama’s Mortgage Reform Plan Means For Solano County Home Buyers & Sellers

Rod Herman — Thu, 17 Feb 2011 16:38:22 +0000

You may have heard that President Obama unveiled his plans to reform the mortgage industry last Friday. Since then, his proposal has taken a lot of heat in real estate circles, especially since one of his recommendations is to reduce the maximum loan limits on conventional mortgages in high-cost areas by more than $100,000 as early as this fall.

Among some of the proposals in Obama’s plan:

Drop the maximum loan amount in high cost areas (which includes much of the Bay Area) from $729,750 to $625,500.

Phase out both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac by reducing their loan portfolios by 10% a year

Raise fees for borrowers

Increase minimum down payments borrowers

What This Means To Solano Home Buyers & Sellers

It’s still unclear whether the White House’s proposal to lower the maximum loan limit would really impact Solano County. Currently, for most of the U.S., the limit is $417,000. The majority of the Bay Area, though is at $729,750 — which is the amount that Obama’s plan wants reduced by about $105,000.

In Solano County, however, our limit is $557,500, which is higher than the rest of the U.S., but lower than most other Bay Area counties.

So if the White House plan reduces the loan limit for all high cost areas on a proportionate basis, then Solano County buyers and sellers could definitely feel a pinch, since buyers of homes priced above the new loan limit would be forced into higher-rate “jumbo” loans, which would no doubt kick some buyers out of the market or force some sellers to lower prices to attract conventional loan buyers.

But if the White House plan keeps our limit at $557,500, since it’s already below the proposed $625,500 ceiling, then Solano County would be spared any impact from the proposed change. I haven’t seen county-by-county specifics yet. But when I do, I’ll post them.

A Definite Impact In Contra Costa

Contra Costa County, meanwhile, will definitely feel the pinch if Obama’s plan is enacted, since it is one of the Bay Area Counties where the $729,750 loan limit is presently in place. If the maximum loan drops to $625,500, then sellers in the $700,000-$900,000 price range, could soon find it much tougher to find qualified buyers for their homes.

Obama is pushing for a change in the loan limit by this fall. And you can bet there will be a lots of lobbying and grass-roots efforts to either stop, delay or modify his proposal in the coming months.

While the jury’s still out on whether the White House plan will affect Solano’s loan limits, those other three proposals in Obama’s plan definitely would impact buyers and sellers here in Solano County as well as throughout the entire U.S.

Less Fannie & Freddie Means Higher Rates & Fees

According to estimates I’ve seen, almost three-quarters of all U.S. loans are sold to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. In Solano County, that percentage is probably a bit lower, since FHA loans have become increasingly popular over the past few years due to lower home prices.

But for borrowers opting for a conventional loan, Freddie or Fannie are what makes the whole money supply machine work. So if you reduce the amount of loans that those two organizations can purchase, that will definitely impact the availability and cost of that financing.

According to the National Assn. of Realtors, Credit Suisse Bank has estimated that interest rates could easily rise 2 full percentage points (to the 7%-plus range) if the government withdraws its backing of Freddie and Fannie, which would easily price many of today’s buyers out of the housing market.

Goodbye To Low Down Payment Loans?

The same would happen if the government pushed lenders to increase minimum down payment amounts. With conventional financing, buyers have to put at least 10% down. With an FHA loan, the minimum is 3.5% down — which is huge for first-time buyers, since many have the income to qualify but not 10% plus closing costs (about $35,000+ on a $250,000 home).

The White House’s premise — more skin in the game by the homeowner means less risk for the lender — makes sense. Before creative financing entered the marketplace back in the 1980s, buyers using a conventional loan traditionally had to come up with 20% down. Of course, back then, most Bay Area home prices were below $100,000.

There’s been quite a bit of talk about FHA increasing the minimum down payment on all of its loans. If that happens and if the same occurs with conventional financing, many buyers would find themselves unable to buy. And that would certainly cause activity to wane, inventory to climb and prices to fall.

I understand the need for mortgage reform. Nobody wants a repeat of 2007-2008. But if the sweeping changes outlined in Obama’s proposal are enacted, Solano County home buyers and sellers will definitely feel it — and not in a good way.

April 2010 Benicia & Vallejo Home Sales

Rod Herman — Tue, 18 May 2010 15:06:02 +0000

Curious 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.

Included in each report is every closed sale from April 2010 — including the address, sales price, days-on-market, net price change, and whether the home was a regular or distress sale (short sale or “REO”/foreclosure).

We post our Benicia and Vallejo Home Sale Reports along with other Solano County home sales reports every month, so be sure to visit HomeSection.com regularly. You can also access previous reports by visiting our Home Sales Report Archives page.

Some highlights from April’s BENICIA home sale report:

Highest Price — $690,000 (1433 O’Hare Dr.)
Lowest Price — $68,000 on 900 Southampton Rd. #81)
Total Sales — 34
Distress Sales — 22 (14 REO / 8 Short Sales)
Regular Sales – 12
Total Sold Above Original List Price — 7
Total Sold Below Original List Price — 19
Biggest Net Price Change — $219,999 (940 West K St.)
Longest Time On Market –414 Days (940 West K St.)

Highlights from April’s VALLEJO home sale report:

Highest Price — $397,000 (9280 Hallmark Dr.)
Lowest Price — $27,500 (424 Corcoran Ave. #4)
Total Sales — 143
Distress Sales — 111 (76 REO / 35 Short Sales)
Regular Sales – 32
Total Sold Above Original List Price — 77
Total Sold Below Original List Price — 51
Biggest Net Price Change — $352,000 (279 Catalina Way)
Longest Time On Market –315 Days (114 Roney Ave.)

To see the full report, with home-by-home totals for every Benicia & Vallejo home that closed escrow in Feb. 2010, click on either of the two buttons below.

If you have questions on any of these properties or would like information on what’s currently available, please contact us or visit our Home Search page to search our multiple listing service. We’re always happy to set up customized automated MLS searches for our clients and prospective clients.

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

Rod Herman — Wed, 12 May 2010 05:07:23 +0000

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.

The huge jump in Benicia’s median price is probably more a correction of last month’s equally huge drop than an indication that prices are suddenly going through the roof in Benicia.

Keep in mind, too, that Benicia’s relatively small sample size means that a few random sales at either end of the price spectrum can easily skew the numbers.

Meanwhile, the number of sales in Solano was down 10% county-wide, but up in Benicia and Fairfield.

At first glance, the big story seems to be Vallejo’s 28% drop in sales last month — from 198 in March to 143 in April. But before jumping to any conclusions, you have to look back a few months. For April’s total is still the second strongest month of 2010 and close to November’s and December’s totals.

Compared to last April, prices in Solano County are up 14%, led by Vallejo (up 28%) and Suisun (+15%). The number of sales, meanwhile, was down 17% county-wide, mainly due, I suspect, to the smaller inventory of homes on the market this April compared to last April.

You can see all of April’s Solano home sale statistics in detail by downloading April’s Solano County Home Sales Report. Archived copies of previous reports are also available by following the links near the bottom of this post.

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

Rod Herman — Tue, 11 May 2010 04:21:15 +0000

As 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.

You see, buyers can only use the credit to offset actual taxes that are owed. Accordingly, some buyers won’t be able to use the full amount of the credit they’re eligible for.

So even though you might qualify for the full $10,000 credit ($3,333/year for three years), if your state taxes are only $1,800/year, then the state only has to give you $5,400. which means that the extra $4,800 they allocated to you can be given to another first-time buyer.

State lawmakers anticipated this when they approved the $100 million tax credit fund. That’s why every first-time home buyer application that’s approved only draws down the fund by 57% of what the applicant qualifies for.

Thus, if you qualify for the maximum credit and your application is approved, your $10,000 allocation only reduces the $100 million fund by $5,700.

If you do the math, that means the state can really continue to accept applications for up to $175 million in first-time buyer credits — or almost twice what everyone thought when the $100 million allocation signed into law by Gov. Schwarzenegger.

You Snooze, You Lose

Another oft-overlooked feature of the tax credit is that all applications must be submitted within 2 weeks of the close of escrow, WITH copies of the fully-signed purchase agreement and final closing statement.

Now, for most first-time buyers I’ve worked with, life becomes very chaotic right after escrow closes. They’re packing, moving, unpacking, and getting kids settled at their new schools.

But if you want the tax credit, in the midst of all of this upheaval, you have to stop what you’re doing and figure out where you put the purchase contract that you signed 6-8 weeks earlier as well as the closing statement you got the day escrow closed.

Or remember to get duplicate copies from your real estate agent. Then, you have to make sure the Franchise Tax Board receives it within two weeks of the date escrow closed.

Not two weeks just to get it postmarked, but two weeks for the state to receive it. So if you pop it in the mail on Day 14, you’re too late.

There are no grace periods and no appeals are allowed. If the FTB says they didn’t get it in time, you lose the credit.

Given how topsy-turvy life becomes for most people in the first few weeks after escrow closes, I have a hard time believing that every first-time buyer who qualifies for the state tax credit will actually submit the required paperwork within the first two weeks after escrow closes.

When you consider that only 1 out of every 5 consumers redeems a rebate they’re eligible for, I wonder how many first-time buyers will actually get their applications in on a timely basis.

I’d be willing to bet that somewhere between 30%-50% of those who are eligible for the credit will miss their two-week window to apply.

Perhaps the state will be more lenient than the law provides or maybe lawmakers will end up removing that 14-day submittal requirement.

If not, I stand by my 30%-50% fallout prediction, which could easily prolong the availability of state monies for eligible buyers.

Keep Track Of How Much Is Left

The Franchise Tax Board’s web site pledges to keep a running total of how much of the $100 million has been spoken for. As of May 4, it had only received 427 applications and had only debited $2.35 million from the fund.

CAR might ultimately be correct and perhaps the fund will indeed dry up very fast. But from where I sit, I think the money may last longer than the number-crunchers predicted.

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Benicia Going Green…But Not For Much Longer

Rod Herman — Sat, 08 May 2010 18:43:02 +0000

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.

Every year the hills in and around Benicia turn green in January and we get to enjoy their emerald beauty for about four or five months. But once the warmer spring weather arrives, it usually takes only a few warm days before the hills turn a golden brown. So by the end of May, the green is always gone.

I snapped these photos a few days ago, when the hills were at their greenest. Enjoy the scenery, because according to the calendar, it’s only a matter of days before the green turns to brown.

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

Rod Herman — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 03:12:26 +0000

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 currently on the market and 7 will be coming on the market soon.

Almost half of Fannie’s unsold Solano County inventory is in Vallejo (40 homes), followed by Fairfield (29), Vacaville (15), Suisun City (6), and Benicia (3).

The 3.5% incentive can either be used to offset closing costs, for Whirlpool appliances or a combination of the two. Only owner-occupants are eligible. And since some loan programs limit the maximum amount of closing costs a buyer may receive (FHA, for example, caps it at 3%), the credit is for “up to” 3.5%.

Even though Fannie’s incentive program has been extended, time is definitely of the essence, as escrow must close by June 30 in order for buyers to receive the credit.

And since most escrows take 30-45 days, that doesn’t allow a huge amount of time to find the right home, get the contract accepted and then close escrow.

For more information on homes in Solano County that qualify for Fannie Mae’s 3.5% incentive program, if you’re not already working with another real estate agent, feel free to contact us and we’ll be glad to assist you.

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

Rod Herman — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 07:27:53 +0000

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 has 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 what occurred earlier this year.

For most of the first three months, the inventory increased throughout the county. But in the last few weeks we’ve seen it starting to drop here and there.

For the year, it’s still higher than it was in January in all five cities. Vallejo leads the way with a 46% year-to-date increase. But as recently as April 5, it was up 58% for the year. So as you can see, the inventory has begun to soften.

But the even bigger news in Solano this week is the recent spike in pending sales, which should also foretell a big increase in the number of closed sales for May in June.

Most of the cities in our Solano market area have approached year-to-date highs in pending sales over the past two weeks. This past week, every city except Suisun reported pending sales well above its YTD average.

For example:

Benicia had its fourth highest total of the year last week with 8 pending sales; its YTD average is 5.7.

Vallejo had its second highest total of 2010 last week and its fourth highest total the week before. Last week’s 55 pending sales far eclipsed its 41.4 sales/week average.

Fairfield had its 4th highest total of the year last week and its 3rd highest the week before. There were 41 sales last week, almost 20% above its 33.4/wk average.

Vacaville hit its high water mark last week (35 sales). That’s 40% above its 21.2./week average.

My hunch is that part of the spike in new sales is due to the urgency for many first-time buyers to get into contract by the end of April so they can take advantage of the federal tax credit.

In order to qualify for the credit, buyers must have a ratified contract by Apr. 30 and close escrow by June 30.

We track the weekly home sales statistics for the five cities in our Solano County market area and publish the weekly report periodically, whenever there are notable trends or statistics.

You can download this week’s Solano County Home Sales Report and see week-by-week home sales and housing supply totals for Benicia, Vallejo, Fairfield, Suisun and Vacaville.

To search for homes in our market area, be sure to visit our Home Search page. You can set up customized home searches and receive results automatically in your email inbox. For additional information or to see any of these homes, please contact us.

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