As Sacramento home owners wait for a recovery, even a leveling off seems like good news lately. And if you own a home in Carmichael, you should be breathing a sigh of relief. We’re of course not over the real estate slump yet, but there seems to be some sort of end in sight, at least locally. Everything could change if the market does not absorb the short sales currently listed, but at least for now it seems like the long road to recovery has begun, even though it might be uphill.

53 homes sold this last month in Carmichael, almost the same number as last July when 55 homes had sold – that’s a unit volume drop of 3.6% year over year. Foreclosure sales fell 38% while the number of short sales doubled. Non-distressed sales remained almost the same. 64% of all homes sold are now non-distressed as compared with just 56% last year at this time.

Average price per square foot is now $171.24 – an increase year over year of 6.8%. Last July, it was $160.38. Average sales price rose 21.9% year over year – however homebuyers also bought homes on average 14% bigger, so keep in mind that the average price per square foot is the more accurate figure here. Average sales price in Carmichael is currently $339,313. Median sales price rose 14.2% and currently rests at $265,000.

Inventory in Carmichael is currently at 5.1 months.

This month we saw an increase in unit volume sales in the city of Carmichael. 52 homes sold in the month of June – an increase year over year in real estate sales by 18.2%. Foreclosure sales remained at almost the same number, which is an oddity in a county where elsewhere foreclosure sales are falling at a rapid rate. Short sales more than doubled year over year while non-distressed sales fell 21% for the same period. Overall, home buyers seem to be gravitating towards short sales more than non-distressed homes or foreclosure sales. 1 out of 3 homes sold today is non-distressed.

Average price per square foot is now $152.92 which is 1.2% lower than it was a year ago when it was $154.82. Home buyers also seemed drawn to smaller homes – the average sold home in Carmichael this month was 7.5% smaller than it was a year ago. Average sales price is currently $257,227 which is 8.7% lower year over year from a high of $281,637. However, keep in mind that the more accurate figure here is the average price per square foot. Median sales price fell 10.9% year over year from $248,450 to $221,250.

Real estate inventory in Carmichael is currently at 5 and a half months.

It seems like the Carmichael real estate market still has to hit bottom, although the price dips are becoming less sharp in the last few months. 39 homes sold in the 95608 zip code – the city of Carmichael – an overall unit volume decline of 13.3% year over year.

Foreclosure sales dropped 52.4% for the same period while just 5 short sales closed escrow. In an area where short sales don’t seem to capture the attention of homebuyers anyway, short sales declined 28.6% year over year. Non-distressed sales increased 41.2% year over year. Approximately 2 out of 3 homes sold are now non-distressed, a good sign if you ignore the short sale inventory, which unfortunately we cannot.

Average sold price per square foot is now at $152.05 which is 9.4% lower than it was a year ago when it was at $167.80. Interestingly enough, home buyers also bought houses on average 13.4% smaller than they did a year ago. This meant that average sales price seemed to decline further than usual at 21.6%. Average sales price in Carmichael is now $260,258, down from $331,856 a year ago. Median sales price fell 3% to rest at $245,000 from $252,500.

Inventory in Carmichael is now at 6.5 months based on the last year of sales and 7 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is just over 2 months and the scary, scary short sale inventory is just under 2 years.

51 homes sold in the city of Carmichael this month – an overall unit volume increase of 70% year over year. A look at the specific categories indicate that home buyer interest has moved into the non-distressed area of homes on the market. There was a 72% increase in the non-distressed category from last March when just 18 homes sold. This March, the number was 31. Short sales also increased dramatically – from just 1 last March to 7 this month. Foreclosure sales remained almost the same at 13.

Average price per square foot is now $154.96 down 6.3% year over year from $165.40. Homebuyers afforded themselves homes on average 15% larger than they did over last March. Average sales price thus rose 7.4% year over year to rest at $284,332 from $264,667 last March. Median sales price jumped 23% to hit $270,000.

Inventory in Carmichael is at 6.5 months. Foreclosure inventory is a little under 2 months while short sale inventory is still just a tad under 2 years – an indication that this real estate recovery might take a while unless short sales begin to move faster – either into sales or into outright foreclosures.

36 homes sold in the Carmichael area this month – an overall unit volume increase of 24% year over year. In terms of sales the market seems well on its way to recovery, although this could just be because owner-occupied homes are still priced to compete with foreclosures and short sales that remain on the market.

Foreclosure sales fell 30% year over year and short sales fell 40% for the same period. Non-distressed sales took the cake in year over year increases – 19 homes sold this month over just 4 last February for a 375% increase in sales! 1 out of every 2 homes sold is now a non-distressed sale, a far cry from a year ago when just 1 out of 10 homes sold was non-distressed.

Average price per square foot is now $137.28 which is 21.6% lower year over year. Last February it was $175.13. Average sales price is now $227,638 down 21.1% year over year from a high of $288,461. Median sales price on the other hand has gained 13% year over year from a low of $192,375 to rest at $217,500.

Inventory in Carmichael is currently a little under 6 months.

The Carmichael real estate market waited until January to change – quite dramatically – in fact. While the rest of the local real estate markets of Sacramento county seem to be stabilizing slowly, Carmichael just posted double digit declines in both average sales price as well as unit volume.

In unit volume we see declines in all categories. Foreclosure sales fell 23.8%, short sales fell 20% and non-distressed sales fell 25% year over year. Overall unit volume also declined 23.7% for the same period. Average price per square foot fell 10.7% year over year. Average sale price is now $278,583 which is 12.4% lower than it was a year ago. Median sales price is now $240,000.

Inventory in Carmichael is at 5.7 months based on the last year of sales and 5.8 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is around 2 months. Short sale inventory which is the main cause of worry for most people is at 22 months.

Nothing much has changed in the Carmichael area in terms of real estate sales or prices year over year. In fact, almost the same number of homes sold at almost the same prices as last December. How’s that for stability? 32 homes sold in the 95608 zip code as compared with 33 last December. Of which, 10 were foreclosures, 3 were short sales and the rest were non-distressed homes. About 60% of all sales remain non-distressed.

Average price per square foot is currently $168.55 which is 3.8% lower than it was a year ago from a high of $175.21. Average sales price fell to $303,973 a seeming decline of 9.6% from $336,430 but that was because homebuyers also bought homes on average 6.1% smaller than a year ago, so the more accurate figure here is the average price per square foot. Median sales price is currently $251,750.

Inventory in Carmichael is at 5.6 months based on the last year of sales and 5.4 months based on the last six months of sales.

The Carmichael real estate market seems to be on its first steps to recovery although the short sale inventory is a little disturbing to see. Among the more positive indicators are a unit volume increase year over year mainly in the non-distressed properties category: 28 homes sold as compared with just 13 last November amongst the non-distressed group. Short sales gained as well from 1 sale last November to 5 this November. Foreclosure sales were down 28.6% year over year as expected. Unit volume increased overall by 53.6% for the same period.

Average price per square foot increased 1.7% year over year from $169.97 to $172.77 currently. People also bought homes on average 3% bigger this year as compared to a year ago. Average sales price is now $284,066 which is 4.7% higher than it was last November when it was $271,386. Median sales price now rests at $240,000.

Inventory in Carmichael is at 6 months based on the last year of sales and 5.4 months based on the last six months of sales. The dreaded short sale inventory is at 18.8 months and 16.6 months respectively.

The total number of homes is mostly unchanged year over year for Carmichael, although the real estate landscape has changed a little. Foreclosure sales for instance have fallen 44% for the same period. Short sales have not changed at all – 9 seems to be the magic number for October sales last year as well as this one. The biggest change seems to be in non-distressed property sales: 32 homes sold this October, a 45.5% increase over last October’s sales.

The ratio of distressed to non-distressed property sales is now almost 2:3, as compared with 3:2 last October. A good reversal for those of us hoping for price increases and a return to normalcy in the Sacramento real estate marketplace soon.

Average price per square foot for now remains depressed at $161.51 which is 10% under last October’s $179.19. Average sales price is now $249,022 down 24.8% year over year from a high of $331,229. Median sales price is now $220,000. But take the average sales price with a grain of salt because the average home sold was also 16.6% smaller than a year ago.

Inventory is at 6.1 months based on the last year of sales and 5.4 months based on the last six months of sales.

September has been a slow month of real estate sales for Carmichael. Just 37 homes sold in the area which accounted for a unit volume drop of 24.5% year over year. In face, sales in every category fell except for non-distressed properties. Foreclosure sales fell 56.5% year over year while short sales fell 62.5% for the same period. Non-distressed sales rose by 33.3%. Perhaps the most marked change we see in the Carmichael real estate market is the market share that non-distressed property sales now take up as compared with last September – from being just over a third of all sales, these non-distressed homes are now 65% of all properties sold!

Average sold price per square foot sits at $166.26 which is a decline of 5.3% year over year from a high of $175.65. Average sales price rests now at $303,526 as compared with $305,023 from a year ago. Median sales price is now $260,000. Homebuyers also on average bought homes 5.3% bigger this September than the last.

Inventory in Carmichael based on the last twelve months of sales is at 6.2 months and based on the last six months of sales is 5.7 months.

If a return to non-distressed property sales is the sign of a normal, healthy real estate market, then Carmichael is definitely showing signs of robust health. Foreclosure sales fell 53.8% year over year and short sales fell a corresponding 57.1% for the same period. Non-distressed properties gained 13% in sales. Overall, however unit volume fell by 18.6%. A total of 35 homes sold in the area of Carmichael, as compared with 43 last August. Today, 74.3% of all sales are non-distressed as compared with just 53.5% last August.

If that wasn’t enough to make you breathe a sigh of relief, here’s another statistic: for the first time in many months, we see an increase in year over year sold price per square foot average. From $176.05 in August of last year, it has now jumped to $188.66. Interestingly enough, homebuyers also bought homes on average 19% smaller this year than they did the last. Average sales price in Carmichael is now $300,867 which is 13% under last August’s $346,409 but the more accurate measure is average price per square foot. Median sales price is $247,000.

Inventory is at 5.8 months based on the last year of sales and 5.7 months based on the last six months of sales.

We see the more robust side of the Carmichael real estate market here in July. Sales and prices were both up month to month and sales were a little higher year over year. Unit volume gained by 3.8% in Carmichael in the month of July and with no change year over year coming from the foreclosure market and a decrease in the short sales by 40% the increase in sales was borne purely by the non-distressed sales. We’ll have to see if this trend continues and converts into a recovery.

Sold price per square foot was slightly higher this month, currently $160.38 down 13.5% year over year. Homebuyers also afforded themselves homes bigger by 5.3% in general year over year. Average sales price is at $278,262 down 9% for the same period from a high of $305,353. Median sales price is at $232,050.

Inventory in Carmichael is at 5.9 months based on the last year of sales and 6 months based on the last 6 months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.9 months.

Carmichael, like elsewhere in Sacramento county has seen a drop in recent sales but has yet to see even the seasonal price increases we are beginning to notice elsewhere in Sacramento. 44 homes sold this June of which 12 were foreclosure sales (27.3% of the total sales) 8 were short sales (18.2% of the total) and 24 were non-distressed properties (54.5% of all sales.) Overall, unit volume was down by 17% year over year and all categories except short sales saw declines year over year. Foreclosure sales fell 45%, non-distressed fell 14.3% but short sales gained 167%!

Average sold price per square foot is at $154.82 which is 21.5% lower than it was a year ago. This has resulted in home buyers affording themselves homes on average 7% bigger than they did a year ago. Average sales price is at $281,637 which is 16% lower than it was a year ago. Last June it was $335,386. Median sales price is at $248,450.

Inventory in Carmichael is at 5.8 months based on the last 12 months of sales and 6.3 months based on the last 6 months of sales. Foreclosure inventory remains at 0.7 months no matter how you look at it.

A total of 37 homes sold in Carmichael this May, a unit volume drop of 27.5% overall year over year. 17 of these homes were foreclosure sales, 3 were short sales and 17 were non-distressed sales. There have been drops in sales in all except foreclosure sales which show no change year over year. Short sales fell 50% and non-distressed 39.3% for the same period. The scales are currently almost evenly balanced between distress and non-distressed sales.

Average sold price per square foot is $159.33 – that’s an 11.9% drop year over year from a high of $180.94. Average sales price is currently at $279,950, a 10% year over year from last May’s $312,171. Median sales price for the Carmichael area is currently at $236,659.

Inventory is at 5.6 months based on the last year of sales and 6.5 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.8 months and 0.9 months respectively.

October has been a better month for real estate in Carmichael overall. Consider the fact that prices have RISEN (Yes, you read that right!) since September. The increase, albeit a small one – from $175.55 a square foot to $179.19 and an increase in average sales price from $304,816 in September to $331,229 in October – should be heartening in a home sale environment of more foreclosures and distress sales than non-distressed. Foreclosures make up 44.6% of all sales and short sales make up 16.1% of sales. This led to overall home sales doubling over last October, but non-distressed home sales falling 4.3%.

Non-distressed sales now only make up 39.3% of all sales in Carmichael.

The increase in price over September is especially nice to see after the drop over last October. Year over year prices have fallen 15.6%. From last October’s high of $392,410 for an average house in Carmichael, we are now at $331,229. Median sale price also fell for the same period from $335,000 to $299,500 – a drop of 10.6%.

Inventory in Carmichael, based on the last 12 months of sales is at 6.4 months and based on the last 6 months of sales is at 5 months. We are beginning to see, as in most markets, foreclosure inventory contract to about 2 – 3 months. (2.8 and 2.1 months, respectively, in Carmichael.)

With prices falling in Carmichael and throughout the rest of Sacramento County, buyers took advantage of bargains this year and generally purchased more homes this year than last.  In Carmichael, volume was up 26.3% over last year, with 48 homes selling in September versus 38 last September.

The average sold price per square foot in Carmichael fell 21.9% from year to year, from $224.79 in September of 2007 to $175.55 in 2008.  This is about $45.00 per square foot more than the county-wide average.  The average home sold for $304,816 in September, down 19.1% from last September’s average of $377,007.  The median home selling price fell 23.1%, from $357,500 in September of 2007 to $275,000 in September of 2008.

37.5% of the sales in Carmichael in September were non-distressed sales.  Another 47.9% were foreclosures, and 14.6% were short sales.  That 14.6% figure is another good example of how the number of short sales getting approved seems to have increased somewhat lately, perhaps as banks begin to get a feel for just how much money they can lose by going all the way to foreclosure.

Carmichael and Fair Oaks are established Sacramento County communities to the east of the City of Sacramento.  Both typically demand slightly better than average prices, and have lower than average foreclosure rates.

Of course, in this market, lower than average doesn’t work out to be low in absolute terms.  39.6% of the sales in Carmichael in July were bank foreclosures, and 9.4% were short sales.

The average home that sold in July in Carmichael fetched $305,353, down 26.7% from last July’s average selling price of $416,588.  Sold price per square foot is down 23.3% during the same period, with the average home sold in July, 2007 working out to $241.69 per square foot, versus $185.40 per square foot in July of 2008.

Demand for Carmichael homes is up from last year, with unit volume rising 47.2% from July to July.  There are approximately six months of inventory in Carmichael.