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Final ‘08 Solano Housing Stats: All But One City Had Far More Sales, However…

January 12th, 2009 categories: Benicia, Buying, Market Update, Selling, Vallejo

It should come as no surprise that prices in Solano County were down in 2008. Nor that the number of sales county-wide increased (lower prices = greater affordability).

What was surprising though is that one Solano County city, Benicia, actually saw a decrease in both prices and sales volume — which was in marked contrast to its other Solano County neighbors. But when you look inside the numbers and realize what actually caused the spike in activity throughout the rest of Solano, you’ll see that Benicia should actually be quite pleased with its standing in the county.

I just ran the final 2008 residential sales statistics (click here or on the graphic below to see my complete report) and the stats show that countywide, prices in 2008 were down 36% from 2007 ($417,000 median sales price in ‘07 and $265,000 in ‘08). Sales activity, however, skyrocketed, with almost twice as many sales last year (4,899) than the year before (2,745) — a 178% increase.

In fact, Vallejo (1,473) and Fairfield/Green Valley (1,407) together combined for more sales in 2008 (2,880) than the entire county had in 2007. Those two cities saw their sales climb 227% and 219% respectively.

But the overall leader in terms of percentage, was Suisun City, with 239% more sales in 2008 than the year before. Of course, its median price, which dropped from $400,000 in ‘07 to $232,000 in ‘08, certainly played a huge part in attracting more buyers. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Antioch, Pittsburg & Vallejo 1-2-3 In Percentage Of Active Distress Sale Listings

January 9th, 2009 categories: Benicia, Contra Costa, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Market Update, Solano, Vallejo

For those communities that had the highest number of distress-sale listings last Fall, the news hasn’t gotten any better. In fact, it’s gotten slightly worse in places like Antioch, Pittsburg and Vallejo, where today nine out of every 10 listings are either a short sale or bank-owned.

Those three cities rank 1-2-3 in our market area, with distress properties accounting for 94%, 93% and 90% of their total listing inventory, respectively.

By comparison, the last time I prepared this report, back in late October, Antioch and Pittsburg each had 91% and Vallejo, 86%.

The news wasn’t much better for those right behind the Big Three: Suisun City, Oakley, Fairfield, and Concord, clocked in with 89%, 85%, 80% and 79%, respectively. Only Fairfield saw a decrease (albeit by a single percentage point). The other three cities all saw their percentages go up, including Concord, which jumped from from 72% in October to 79% today. Right behind Concord is Brentwood, at 77% (up from 76% in October). Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

How Did Your Community Fare In December?

January 8th, 2009 categories: Benicia, Buying, Market Update, Selling, Solano, Vallejo

Solano County Home Sales Data For December

I just downloaded the data and the numbers are in for Solano County homes sales in December. There were a total of 556 sales county-wide, led in descending order by Vallejo (195), Fairfield/Green Valley (166), Vacaville (87), Suisun City (48) and Benicia (24).

The lowest selling price in the county was in Vallejo ($27,000) and the highest was in Vacaville (an even $1 million). The quickest sales were in Suisun City (average of 82 days on the market) and the slowest were in Vallejo (117 days). However, Vallejo had the most pending sales for the month (249), which was almost half of the entire county’s total (650).

Benicia, as usual, had the highest median sales price in the county, at $383,500 — more than $100,000 higher than the city with the next highest median price (Vacaville at $270,000. Vallejo had the lowest, with a median sales price of $160,000. The county-wide median was  $206,375 in December.

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Want To Stay Current On How Many Homes Are On The Market In Most of Solano County?

January 7th, 2009 categories: Benicia, Buying, Market Update, Selling, Solano, Vallejo

A new year means new additions and new traditions. So starting today, I’ll be tracking the number of homes on the market in the Solano County communities we serve on a weekly basis. Keeping track of the inventory every week is something I usually do for Benicia, but now I’m going to start doing it for Vallejo, Fairfield-Green Valley, Suisun and Vacaville, too. And I plan to post the numbers on this blog every week.

Today, the list is only one line long. But if you subscribe to this Blog or keep checking back regularly, as the weeks progress, you’ll see an ever-evolving incredibly useful window into what’s really happening in the market.

As the year begins, here is the housing inventory for Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Finally…Some Positive Foreclosure News On The Horizon

October 23rd, 2008 categories: Foreclosures / Short Sales, Loans / Financing, Market Update

Despite the current mayhem and chaos on Wall Street and in the world’s financial markets, there may be a glimmer of hope on the horizon, as we may finally be on the brink of a major change in the foreclosure landscape.

That’s because we’re about to enter a period where fewer and fewer of those ugly subprime loans will reach their initial reset date. And those adjustable rate resets – where a borrower might have seen his or her payment go from an affordable $1,800/mo. to an unaffordable $3,500/mo. – are the root of the mess we’re in right now. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

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. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Surprise! Solano The Only County In The State With Positive Building News

September 29th, 2008 categories: Market Update, Solano

With the entire nation mired in this period of economic uncertainty, one industry that’s taken an incredibly hard hit, as you might imagine, is the home building industry. And in a report just released by the California Building Industry Association, the builder’s trade group announced that all but one county in the golden state saw declines in new building activity.

That one lone exception? Solano County. Statewide in August, building permit activity was down 58 percent to August, 2007. Yet, in Solano, there were actually 3.3% more permits issued this year than a year ago. By comparison, Yuba-Sutter Counties saw a 93 percent drop in new construction during the same period.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that here in Solano we’re exempt from the impacts of all that’s ailing the U.S.’s financial and real estate markets. But amid all the bad news and doom and gloom, it’s nice to see something positive for a change.

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Why Some Sellers Are Throwing Away More Than $300/Day In This Market & How To Avoid Making Their Same Mistakes

September 5th, 2008 categories: Market Update, Selling

It usually goes something like this: A real estate meets with a seller and explains that in order to sell in a market like we’re in right now, they’ll need to be realistic. And the seller says “oh, don’t worry about that…we know what’s been happening out there. We’ve read the paper and know that we need to be priced competitively. We don’t want to be one of those who has their home on the market for four or five months.”

But then a strange thing happens. They look at the comps and see that the number they’d resigned themselves to pricing their home at before the agent arrived is actually still $50,000-$100,000 above the home’s current value.

Suddenly, their mood changes. “Well, we know our home is worth more than that. Plus, we have RV parking. And some of those ‘other’ sales were bank-owned. Besides, we just painted the entire interior four years ago. And our roof is only six years old.” Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: No Comments »

Why Savvy Real Estate Investors Are Now Licking Their Chops…Especially In Places Like Antioch, Fairfield and Vallejo

September 5th, 2008 categories: Buying, Contra Costa, Foreclosures / Short Sales, Investors, Market Update, Solano, Vallejo

Four or five years ago, when prices were skyrocketing month after month, buyers often lamented about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

These Antioch homes are all more than 2,200 sq. ft. and below $300,000

These Antioch homes are all more than 2,200 sq. ft. and below $300,000

I’d pull up a property’s history and when they saw that the home they were about to pay $600,000 for had been purchased a dozen years earlier for $210,000, they’d say “if I’d only bought several homes back then when I had the chance.”

The ‘good ‘ol days, were long gone, with prices outpacing rents by such a long shot that any savvy real estate investor didn’t even have to crunch the numbers. Unless they were in it for a quick flip, they knew that the numbers didn’t come close to penciling out when a $550,000 home would only rent for $1,500/month. Read the rest of this entry »

Written by Rod Herman | Discussion: 1 Comment »