It has been a while since we looked at real estate sales in the Citrus Heights area. It doesn’t look like we have missed much, however. In fact, Citrus Heights is one of the few places in Sacramento county that seems to have been among the most stable areas in terms of prices.

When it comes to real estate sales, unit volume has fallen 11.4% year over year. 70 homes sold this month. Foreclosure sales have fallen quite dramatically which has no doubt been the biggest reason for declining sales. Foreclosure sales fell 31% year over year while short sales gained 50% and non-distressed property sales increased 38.5% for the same period.

Average price per square foot is pretty similar to what it was the last time we checked in. It is at $116.02, just 1.4% lower than it was a year ago when it was $117.68. Average sales price is now $163,860 down 3.1% year over year. Median sales price is currently $169,000, up 5.6% from where it was last year at this time.

Real estate inventory in Citrus Heights is at 2.3 months based on the last year of sales and 2.5 months based on the last six months of sales.

98 homes sold in the area of Citrus Heights in the month of October signifying an overall unit volume drop of 17.6% year over year. Foreclosure sales by themselves dropped 52.4% for the same period while short sales rose 71.4% along with non-distressed sales which rose 62%. The total area taken up non-distressed sales has now gone from 17.6% to 34.7% year over year. 1 out of 3 homes sold are now non-distressed up from less than 2 out of 5 a year ago.

Average price per square foot is now $119.68 down 10.6% year over year from a high of $133.88. Average sales price is now $176,141 also down 10% from last October’s high of $195,709. Median sales price is $175,000.

Inventory in Citrus Heights is at 2 months based on the last twelve months of sales and 1.8 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.5 months no matter how you look at it. Citrus Heights seems to also be absorbing its short sale inventory, albeit slowly. Based on the last year of sales, short sale inventory is at 7.2 months and based on the last six months of sales, it is at 5.6 months.

103 homes sold in the city of Citrus Heights this month as compared with 101 last September keeping the unit volume almost the same. Within the individual categories though we see some marked differences that suggest this market might be heading toward some stabilization. For instance, foreclosure sales fell 29.4% year over year while both short sales and non-distressed property sales gained momentum. Non-distressed property sales rose by 135.7% brining the ratio of distressed to non-distressed home sales to 3:1 from almost 10:1 a year ago.

In terms of price data, the news is not as encouraging however. Current price per square foot is now $122.60, a drop of 12% year over year from a high of $138.96 a year ago. Average sales price in Citrus Heights is now $171,897 down 9% from $188,785 a year ago. Median sales price is now $165,000.

Inventory in Citrus Heights is at 2.1 months based on the last year of sales and 2 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory remains at 0.5 months.

As elsewhere in Sacramento county, Citrus Heights is seeing its foreclosure sales dwindle. Year over year, 48% fewer foreclosures sold this August, while short sales saw an impressive jump up of 187.5%! Even sales of non-distressed properties saw an increase for the same period – of about 95%. Overall though, unit volume was at a negative 3%. 102 homes sold this August as compared with 105 last August.

Average sold price per square foot is currently $125.13, which is 14% lower year over year from a high of $145.58. Average sales price rests at $185,500 which is 6% under last August’s high of $197,247. Median sales price is at $175,500 which is 10% lower for the same period. However, since homebuyers afforded themselves homes on average 9.4% bigger this month than they did a year ago, the more accurate measure of home values is the average price per square foot.

Inventory in Citrus Heights is at 2 months. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.4 months.

When foreclosure inventory dips below 0.5 months, homebuyers turn their attention to short sales. In Citrus Heights, as elsewhere in Sacramento county, this is probably a good thing since based on the last year of sales, there is still 8.5 months of short sale inventory on the market. But more about that later.

A total of 103 homes sold this month in Citrus Heights, a unit volume drop of 10.4% year over year. Foreclosures dropped by 33.7% while short sales gained 300%! Non-distressed property sales also gained by an un-newsworthy 3.7% for the same period.

Average price per square foot is currently $119.23 a fall of 16.6% year over year from a high of $143.00. Average sales price is at $171,161 down 15.9% for the same period from $203,616. Median sales price rests at $165,000.

Inventory in Citrus Heights is at 2 months based on the last 12 months of sales and 2.1 months based on the last 6 months of sales.

92 homes sold in the area of Citrus Heights this month, an overall unit volume drop of 23.3% year over year. That’s about 30 homes less than last June. And the biggest drop has been seen in the foreclosure market. Overall drop in sales of 37.5%. Foreclosure sales now make up just 48.9% of the total real estate sales in Citrus Heights while short sales have gained ground. A full 28.3% of all sales now are short sales. The rest 22.8% are non-distressed properties. Non-distressed sales have also fallen year over year however by 25%.

Average sales price per square foot is currently at $121.74 which is 15.4% lower than it was a year ago at a high of $143.87. The average sales price is $171,914, which is 18.8% lower year over year from a high of $211,824. However, keep in kind that the price per square foot is more accurate since the average home sold was also 4% smaller this June than it was last June. Median sales price is currently at $169,500 for Citrus Heights.

Real estate inventory is at 2.1 months based over the last year of sales and 2.2 months over the last six months of sales – an indication that sales have maintained their equilibrium in this area of the county as compared with others in Sacramento. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.4 months and 0.5 months respectively.

Even though overall unit volume has not changed much for real estate sales in the city of Citrus Heights (only a 2.1% drop year over year) the kind of homes selling are beginning to tell a different story. Foreclosure sales have dropped 13.8% year over year and now make up little more than half of all real estate sold. Short sales are gaining traction – we see 25% more short sales closing escrow this May as compared with last May. And – surprise, surprise – non-distressed sales are up as well – by 11.5% year over year.

The average sold price per square foot inched over last month’s by just a few cents to rest at $120.42. It is still 21% under last May’s average sold price per square foot, which was $152.23. The average sales price is currently $172,101, also 15% under last May’s $202,239. The median sales price is currently at $169,000.

Inventory is at 3.3 months based on the last 12 months of sales and 3.7 months based on the last 6 months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.7 months and 0.9 months respectively.

As we have seen elsewhere, as soon as the foreclosure inventory begins to show signs of bottoming out, so do home sales in many areas. Citrus Heights is no exception to the rule. A total of 87 homes sold in the month of April and overall unit volume suffered 16.3% year over year. Foreclosure sales themselves are down 10% year over year, while short sales have gained 275% for the same period. Non-distressed sales are also down 52.4% for the same period.

Average price per square foot is now $119.86. That’s a 19.4% drop from last April’s high of $148.77. The average sales price in April is $175,550 which is 15.7% lower than a year ago. Median sales price is down 17.5% for the same period. It is currently $170,000 down from $206,000.

Inventory in Citrus Heights is at 3.3 months based on the last 12 months of sales and 3.7 months based on the last 6 months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.6 months and 0.7 months respectively.

Citrus Heights real estate continues to see a high demand amongst home buyers. In fact, overall unit volume is up 79.6% year over year in this investor-friendly community in Sacramento county. A total of 97 homes sold here last month of which 69 (or 71.1% of total sales) were foreclosure sales, 13 (or 13.4% of all sales) were short sales and 15 (or 15.5% of total sales) were non-distressed homes. Almost 85% of all sales are now distress sales.

Year over year, foreclosure sales have seen an increase of 115.6% while short sales have seen an increase of 225%. The only sales suffering are of course the non-distressed properties that have fallen 16.7% for the same period.

Average sold price per square foot has dropped 22.1% year over year from a high of $150.39 to $117.09 currently. The average sales price has dropped $23.3% from $214,083 to $164,172. Median sales price for the same period has fallen 32.9% from $230,000 to rest at $154,400.

Inventory for Citrus Heights is currently at 3.4 months (based on the last year of sales) and 3.8 months (based on the last six months of sales.)

Investors love Citrus Heights. Especially in today’s market when real estate prices have fallen 27.3% over last October. The average price per square foot in Citrus Heights (zip codes 95610 and 95621) is now $132.71 – down from last October’s $182.43, a huge bargain for those looking to buy investment property or first homes.

The main reason prices have fallen so low is the foreclosures and short sales. There are currently 214 short sales on the market in Citrus Heights – a much larger number than I have seen in most other neighborhoods of Sacramento county. While we were beginning to see foreclosures in this area last October, the number has since tripled and distress sales now make up the majority of home sales – 68.1% are foreclosures and 15.9% are short sales. Non-distressed sales make up only 15.9% of all home sales – an interesting number when you think about the fact that total sales have gone up by 46.8% this October over the last.

The average sales price for a house in Citrus Heights is now $194,768 – down 29.8% over last October’s high of $277,310. Median sales price is also down 32.4% from $275,000 to $186,000 for the same period.

Inventory is at 5.3 months based on the last 12 months of sales and 4.1 months based on the last 6 months of sales.

Citrus Heights is one of many areas in Sacramento County where falling prices has fueled increased demand, and as a result, inventory has fallen to seller’s market levels (even if prices have not yet started to increase in response).

The average Citrus Heights home sold in July for $203,616, down 30.9% from last year’s average of $294,564.  Sold price per square foot fell somewhat more moderately, 25.5%, from $192.06 per square foot in July of 2007 to $143.00 in July of 2008.

In response to falling prices, some 82.5% more buyers purchased a home in July than a year ago, so last July’s unit sales of 63 homes climbed to 115 homes sold during July of 2008.  With increased demand over the last few months, Citrus Heights now enjoys low inventory numbers — 5.5 months if you base your average monthly sales on the last twelve months, or 4.4 months if you’re inclined to pay more attention to the last six months of sales.  Either way, having inventory as low as it is is a good thing — but we’ve yet to see the low inventory start to have an impact on prices.