Sacramento Real Estate Blog

Elk Grove’s sales continued strong in August, though like the rest of Sacramento County, unit volume was off slightly from the high we reached in July.  In August, 323 homes sold in Elk Grove, more than doubling last August’s total of 127 homes.

Prices in Elk Grove have fallen 30.3% from last year, with the average home selling in August, 2007 for $187.96 versus $130.97 in August of 2008.  Prices were up slightly in August from the previous month both in price per square foot and average selling price, but much of the gain seems to be a result of a possibly temporary upsurge in the number of non-distressed properties selling.

The average selling price in August was $281,994, down 26.7% from last year, while the median selling price of $265,000 was down 26.4% from last August’s median of $360,000.    

67.5% of homes sold in Elk Grove in August of 2008 were bank foreclosures, and 13% were short sales, leaving 19.5% in the non-distressed category.

Currently inventory in Elk Grove is low at 4.1 months (based on the six-month absorption rate of 277 homes sold per month), or 5.6 months if you use the twelve month average of 204 homes selling per month.

The raw data for Elk Grove is below.

Unit Volume Data

Units Sold	August, 2007		August, 2008	Change
Foreclosures Sold	35		218	522.9%
(% of total units)	25.7%		67.5%
Short Sales Sold	3		42	1300.0%
(% of total units)	2.2%		13.0%
Non-distressed Sold	98		63	-35.7%
(% of total units)	72.1%		19.5%
Total	136		323	137.5%

Price Data

Prices	August, 2007		August, 2008	Change
Sold Price / Square Foot	$187.96		$130.97	-30.3%
Square Feet	2046		2153	5.2%
Average List Price	$396,601		$281,292	-29.1%
Average Sale Price	$384,627		$281,994	-26.7%
Median Sale Price	$360000		$265000	-26.4%

Inventory (Based on 12 months of prior sales)

Sale Type	Average Sales Per Month	Active	Months of Inventory
All Sales	204	1152	5.6
Foreclosures	136	258	1.9
Short Sales	16	654	38.7
Nondistressed	51	241	4.7

Inventory (Based on 6 months of prior sales)

Sale Type	Average Sales Per Month	Active	Months of Inventory
All Sales	277	1152	4.1
Foreclosures	197	258	1.3
Short Sales	26	654	24.5
Nondistressed	54	241	4.4

Related links:

July 2008 Real Estate Market Report - Elk Grove
Elk Grove Real Estate Market Update
Foreclosures Statistics for High-Foreclosure Areas in Sacramento County

Elk Grove is one of those areas with many foreclosures, where the competition for these low priced homes has become very fierce.  In July, for example, the average home sold in Elk Grove for $272,767, slightly above the average list price of $271,974.  Foreclosures are in short supply at about 1.5 months of inventory, and it is bank foreclosures that made up the lion shares of the sales in Elk Grove in July at 74.3% of the total.

Homes are selling below the Sacramento County average in Elk Grove, coming in at an average of $130.36 per square foot, which is down 32.6% form last year’s average of $193.51.  Sales have more than doubled since 2007, rising 150% from 126 units sold in July of 2007 to 315 units sold in July of 2008.

Below we have volume and price data for Elk Grove:

Unit Volume Data

Units Sold	July, 2007		July,	Change
Foreclosures Sold	23		234	917.4%
(% of total units)	18.3%		74.3%
Short Sales Sold	8		36	350.0%
(% of total units)	6.3%		11.4%
Non-distressed Sold	95		45	-52.6%
(% of total units)	75.4%		14.3%
Total	126		315	150.0%

 Price Data

Prices	July, 2007		July,	Change
Sold Price / Square Foot	$193.51		$130.36	-32.6%
Average List Price	$382,481		$271,974	-28.9%
Average Sale Price	$374,970		$272,767	-27.3%

 Inventory (Based on 12 months of prior sales)

Sale Type	Average Sales Per Month	Active	Months of Inventory
All Sales	187	1182	6.3
Foreclosures	119	268	2.2
Short Sales	13	664	48.9
Nondistressed	53	251	4.7

 Inventory (Based on 6 months of prior sales)

Sale Type	Average Sales Per Month	Active	Months of Inventory
All Sales	247	1182	4.8
Foreclosures	178	268	1.5
Short Sales	20	664	32.1
Nondistressed	49	251	5.0

Related links:

July 2008 Real Estate Market Report - Elk Grove
Elk Grove Real Estate Market Update
Foreclosures Statistics for High-Foreclosure Areas in Sacramento County

The real estate market in Elk Grove in November shows an area that’s harder hit than most by foreclosures, with deep price cuts over the last year as a result.  In November, the average home sold in Elk Grove for $346,011, down 17% from last year’s average of $417,001.  Similarly, the median price was down 17.9%, from $395,000 to $324,200.

This November, however, the average home sold in Elk Grove was also 6.5% larger than last November’s average.  As a result, the sold price per square foot ratio dropped a full 20.9% from year to year — one of the more dramatic one year price drops we’ve written about.

Currently, there are some 11.2 months of inventory in Elk Grove.  56.2% of those are “distressed sales” of one type or another, either short sales or foreclosures.  Last November, only 2% of the sales in Elk Grove were bank foreclosures — this November, that number has risen to 50%.

Homes that do sell in Elk Grove, however, show that even though there are bargains to be had, homes still sell fairly close to their list price when all is said and done.  The $346,011 average selling price in Elk Grove is 96.6% of the average list price.

Related links:

Sacramento County September Real Estate Price Changes By Area
Sacramento County Real Estate Price Changes By Area
Sacramento Real Estate Market Update August

The number of foreclosures in Sacramento has been the subject of many articles and a great deal of press attention. I thought I’d take a look at a few of the areas that are experiencing a high number of foreclosures to get a feel for how many foreclosures are currently active and what sort of discount they represent for buyers.

With this in mind, I focused my research on the three areas that are showing highest numbers in the Multiple Listing Service (raw numbers, not percentages) of bank owned properties in Sacramento County. These areas the Franklin Blvd / Freeport area (95823 — see zip code map), Sacramento Florin 95828 (map), and Elk Grove 95758 (Map). In fact, when you look at the map, you can see that the choice of calling these “three areas” or “one area” is pretty arbitrary, since they roughly border one another.

The Boring News — How Many Are There?

Let’s take them as one area of Sacramento County that’s high in foreclosures first. In these three high foreclosure areas, the number of active listings that are bank owned, is 17% of the total. At the same time, 11% of the total listings are short sales — properties where the seller’s proceeds from the sale do not cover the cost of repaying the loan. So for both types of “distressed” properties, we come up with a figure of 28%. Once again, the Sacramento Bee’s summary claim that for every two homes sold, one is in foreclosure seems to overstate the case. (I critiqued those numbers from another angle here). However, to give the bee their due, here are possible reasons for the discrepancy:

• The Bee was reporting on August foreclosures and sales only, whereas my current report concerns active listings that have accumulated over some time.
• As we’ve shown earlier in one market, foreclosures outsell non-foreclosures. This isn’t hard to understand — they’re cheaper. This being the case, you’d expect the “absorption rate” for short sale and REOs to be faster than for non-distressed sales.

The Interesting News — How Much Money Can You Save?

Of course, the debate about how many foreclosures there are generates a lot of heat, but not much light. A much more interesting question is, as always: “What’s in it for me?”

If you’re a buyer, plenty!

The following numbers are all expressed in list price per square foot.

In the Franklin Blvd area (95823), short sales are presently discounted 9.2% from their non-distressed counterparts. Bank owned properties are even better, discounted an average of 15.5%. In Elk Grove (95758), the average discount for a short sale is 11.9%, while for an REO it’s 17.1%. The Florin area boasts some of the best numbers of all in this respect. Short sales are discounted 12.4%, while the average foreclosure is discounted a tasty 18.3%! If you’re willing to put up with doing whatever repairs are needed yourself, that difference is huge, and it means the difference between purchasing something at roughly $320,000 and roughly $260,000. $60,000 buys a lot of carpet and paint!

Related links:

Sacramento County September Real Estate Price Changes By Area
Sacramento County Real Estate Price Changes By Area
Sacramento Real Estate Market Update August