Real Estate Statistics

If you have been a long time reader of my blog you may well remember I used to spend a fair amount of print writing about the monthly statistical reports. I can’t remember when was the last time I posted something to my blog or wrote an article on the monthly results. I suspect there are several reasons, including the media spotlight on real estate and the “downturn,” “crisis” or “meltdown” stories in the Sac Bee and other outlets almost daily. Other blogs, especially the bubble blogs like Sacramento Land(ing) focus almost every post on the market and do a good job keeping readers informed of the latest reports about the Sacramento area real estate market.

But today I would like to call your attention to the continued decline in the median prices in our area. As reported on various sites the median price of a home in Sacramento is down almost 28 percent in the past year. More importantly, in the past few months the decline has shown no signs of slowing down. According to HousingTracker, the change in the median asking price has dropped over 35 percent since our market high in August 2005.

Overall, prices and sales are significantly lower than they were a year ago and inventory is higher. Word on the street right now is strongly indicating an increase in activity but at this time, “good feelings” have not had any impact on stopping or slowing down the slide.
There is no single solution to our real estate problems. We need more Government and lender programs to help borrowers avoid foreclosure. The big lenders must come up with an innovative loan program to help borrowers buy homes with payments they can afford and budget for. Homeowners who do not “need” to sell should stay off the market for the time being and, and and….