Julie Jalone's July Analysis - Finally!

Here it is with August coming to an end and I have bee reading about how our local real estate market performed in July for at least the past two weeks. I am usually right there with the other pundits reporting on the numbers and adding my own comments and predictions but this month I have found it difficult to get started.

The numbers for July in the four county Greater Sacramento area are not very positive. With minor exceptions the activity levels are down significantly from last year and not even as high as last month. Median prices are now generally negative on an annual basis compared to double digit increases we have seen in the last few years and inventory of available homes is still too high. The new item we are now talking about is home buyers who are sitting on the sidelines. I have my share of them; they are in no hurry to find a home, want to look but at the same time are waiting to see if prices continue to decline. For these reasons it took me an extra week or so to finally write my “July Analysis.”

There is some good news, interest rates are down for the fifth straight week, school has started as Labor Day comes and goes we should see a pick-up of activity. It was this time last year that the slow down began to impact the real estate market so going forward we will be seeing our comparison numbers with last year looking a bit less anemic.