The downtown Sacramento real estate market keeps chugging along and each time I write a market report on the area, it seems like nothing much is going on. Nevertheless, 6 home sold in the area last month, an overall unit volume drop of 25% year over year. 4 of these sales were of non-distressed homes while 1 each were in the foreclosure sale and short sale category. The breakdown was almost the same last year at this time.

Average price per square foot currently sits at $242.31 down 8.1% from a year ago from a high of $263.80. Homebuyers preferred smaller houses this February, on average 29.4% smaller and the average sales price reflects that preference. So even though the average sales price shows a decline of 35.2% overall, keep in mind that the more accurate figure here is the average price per square foot. Average sales price is currently $262,500. Last February it was $405,000. Median sales price is currently $265,500.

Inventory in downtown Sacramento is currently at 6.9 months.

There are 2 foreclosures and 16 short sales on the active sales market of downtown Sacramento but they aren’t getting much attention. At least so it seems when of the 7 homes that sold in the area last month, there were no foreclosure sales and only one short sale. The rest were non-distressed homes. Overall, we see a unit volume decline in sales by 36.4% year over year.

The good news, if you can call it that, comes from the price data. Average sold price per square foot is about the same as it was last year at this time – $277.50 per square foot. (Last September it was $277.34) Still home buyers have bought homes on average 6.4% smaller than they did last year. Average sales price in downtown Sacramento is now $354,286 which is 6.4% lesser than last September and median sales price is now $335,000.

Inventory in downtown Sacramento is at 9.3 months based on the last year of sales and 8.9 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 1.1 months and 1.7 months respectively.

The downtown Sacramento market was mostly unchanged from last July. Some minor changes have shown up however. As I have mentioned before, it is harder to draw inferences from the changes in this market because one little difference swings the statistics this way and that. With that said, let’s jump right into it.

10 homes sold in the area in July, as compared with 11 last July. Of these were 2 foreclosure sales, 1 short sale and 7 non-distressed homes. It’s safe to say that more non-distressed homes sell in downtown Sacramento than foreclosures, and it’s rare that foreclosures come on the market at all. Currently, there are 2 foreclosures on the real estate market.

Average price per square foot currently rests at $241.82 which is 19% under last July’s high of $298.19. Interestingly enough the average home sold was also 19.3% smaller than it was last July! Average sales price currently is $301,400 down 34.6% year over year from $460,809. Median sales price rests at $265,000.

Inventory in downtown Sacramento is at 8.1 months based on the last year of sales and 8.5 months based on the last six months.

Downtown Sacramento is a market unto its own and even though we follow it every month, it’s hard to track a trend because the amount of data is so small. Every little change seems magnified as a result. Nonetheless, here are the details.

A total of 14 homes sold this June as homebuyers showed some renewed interest. Foreclosures were the hardest hit in terms of sales however – just 1 REO sold this June as compared with 6 last June, a year over year drop of 83.3%. 2 short sales sold this month as well along with 11 non-distressed properties. Unit volume was down 30% year over year.

Average price per square foot currently stands at $272.48 which is 14.6% under last June’s $319.09. Average sales price actually shows a positive jump of 4.5% going from $383,732 last June to $401,089 this June. However, we can safely call that an anomaly since the average home sold was also 22.4% bigger! Median sales price is $384,500.

Inventory is at 8 months based on the last year of sales and 9.5 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 1.6 months and 1.8 months respectively.

Just 9 homes sold in downtown Sacramento this May and as such the swings of the market are unpredictable. When there is such a small number of homes selling, every little change becomes magnified and so it is with real estate in downtown Sacramento. The 9 sales represent a 50% drop year over year in unit volume. They also represent a 100% increase in foreclosure sales (2 sales as compared with 1 last May!) and a 64.7% drop in non-distressed sales.

The average sold price per square foot is not $259.01 which represents a drop of 26.7% year over year from a high of $353.23. The average home in downtown Sacramento currently sells for $360,433, which is 30% lower than it did a year ago at $514,753. The median sales price is currently $372,910.

Inventory in downtown Sacramento is at 7.3 months based on the last year of sales and 9.4 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.9 months no matter how you look at it.

It isn’t foreclosures killing downtown Sacramento’s prices in real estate like elsewhere in Sacramento. There are only 2 active foreclosures in the area and if history is to be relied upon as a guide to the future, as soon as foreclosures come on the market in the area, they are picked up by eager buyers. Still downtown hasn’t quite found its groove.

A total of 10 homes sold in the area this month of which 8 were non-distressed, 1 was a foreclosure and 1 was a short sale. This means unit volume is down year over year by 28.6%.

Prices are down as well. The current sold price per square foot is $272.69 down 26.4% year over year from a high of $370.68. The average sales price has plummeted from $502,214 to $375,609 for the same period. That’s a drop of 25%. The median sales price is at $345,666.50. That is down 12% from a year ago when it was $404,000.

Inventory is at 7.1 months based on the last year of sales and 10.5 months based on the last six months of sales. Short sale inventory is at 18 months and 15 months respectively.

I’ve heard that nothing is ever happening in downtown Sacramento and although I haven’t been there to see the nightlife in a while now, I must admit that on the real estate front, downtown Sacramento is always pretty exciting. Due to the low number of homes sold there and the variety of homes itself in the area, the real estate statistics for downtown Sacramento always seem to be very exciting.

Here’s a snapshot of what I mean: 3 foreclosures sold this month, that’s UP from none last March. 5 non-distressed homes also sold – that’s DOWN from last March’s 8. But the overall sales remain the same: 8. Thus year over year, we see no difference in sales. However, the average home sold was 36.3% bigger than last year at the same time. Yes, you read that right. 36.3% bigger – that’s almost 500 square feet!

Sold price per square foot no doubt is helping with affordability. Currently the average sold price per square foot is $212.20, down 29% year over year from a high of $299.03. Average sales price is $393,000, dipping just 3% year over year from a high of $406,313. Median sales price is at $334,000.

Inventory is at 5.8 months (based on the last 12 months of sales) and 7.6 months (based on the last 6 months of sales).

The downtown Sacramento real estate market looks almost the same as it did last year at this time. Is that a good thing? Well, if you compare it with last month, the answer is yes! It’s nice to see some life in downtown Sacramento after an extended period of not much going on. A total of 8 homes sold here last month: 2 foreclosure sales, 1 short sale and 5 non-distressed homes closed escrow. While that is still a unit volume decline year over year of 11% it is just a difference of 1 non-distressed home sale.

Prices too don’t look as bad as they did last month. Current average sold price per square foot is $263.80 – that’s 16.6% lower than last February’s $316.24 but a huge jump up from last month’s $172.98. Average sales price is now at $405,000 – that came roaring back after January’s average of $258,000! It is still a year over year decline of 12% from $459,433. But lookey here: median sales price sees a year over year increase of 8.5% (yes, you read that right!) – currently at $385,250 from $355,000 last year. The current median price also looks way better than last month’s $208,500.

Inventory is at 5.7 months (based on the last 6 months of sales) and 7.1 months (based on the last 12 months of sales).

Sales and prices in Downtown Sacramento have been less than prolific this month. Really, it seems that real estate in downtown Sacramento is a study in balance this December anyway. Sales are poised quite neatly between short sales, foreclosure sales and non-distressed sales, each taking a third of the sales pie. That’s a total of 12 houses sold in December, 4 of each. Short sales showed the greatest gain, since last year there were no short sales sold in this area. Non-distressed sales have dropped by 50%. Overall, there is no change in unit volume year over year.

Sold price per square foot however is 27% lower than it was last year at the same time: average price per square foot has dropped from $319.05 to $233.62 year over year. Average sales price has dropped 31% from $385,992 to $267,283 for the same period. Median price is now at $255,000. That is also a drop of 30% from last year’s high of $365,000.

We are beginning to see a drop in foreclosure and short sale inventory, which could be a good thing for sellers in downtown Sacramento. Foreclosure inventory is currently at 1 month and short sales are at 6.8 months. The rest is all non-distressed property. So might see prices go up unless more short sales and foreclosures are added. Overall inventory is at 4.9 months – based on the last year of sales – and 5.2 months based on the last 6 months.

Downtown Sacramento always surprises and this November is no exception. While real estate sales everywhere have slowed, but to a much lesser degree than expected, sales in downtown Sacramento have all but ground to a halt. 62.5% less homes sold in this area year over year this November. Non-distressed sales have fallen even further – 71.4% less sold this November as compared with last year.

The reason? Who knows? But get this: Sold price per square foot actually shows a gain year over year: from $291.91 to $310.10. This is, incidentally, higher than last month’s price per square foot as well. Remember that price per square foot is a more accurate measure of prices than average and median sales price which almost everyone loves to quote. Here’s why: the average sales price in downtown Sacramento is down 21.4% over last November from $407,091 to $319,917 but the average sold home is also 26% smaller!

Is this the beginning of a recovery? It’s too soon to tell, of course, but it’s nice to report some good news here. Inventory is at 5 months.

If there is one place foreclosures have forgotten it’s downtown Sacramento and while the area is not completely immune to the real estate downturn, home buyers are swooping down on foreclosures here as soon as they hit the market. The majority (82.4%) of home sales in downtown Sacramento are still solidly non-distressed sales. However, two foreclosures and one short sale did sell in the area this October, a slight change from 1 REO and no short sales last year. Sales are up by 41.7% indicating that even the slightest dip in prices brings buyers.

The slight dip is 6.8%. The average home sold for $412,199 last October and today sells for $384,235. Median sale price is down 9.9% for the same period, from last October’s high of $440,705.50 to $397,000. A more accurate measure is of course the price per square foot, which is down a mere 5.6% over last year – from $306.07 to $228.94 year over year.

There are currently 3 foreclosures and 9 short sales on the market in the area, so bargain hunters, head out to downtown Sacramento! Inventory is at 5.3 months (based on the last 12 months of sales) and 4.7 months (based on the last 6 months.)

Buyers continued to pay a substantial premium for a Downtown Sacramento address in September, with average prices more than double the county-wide average.  Although the average sold price per square foot was down 20.1% from September to September, this year’s value of $277.34 was up slightly from the previous month, when the average sold price per square foot downtown was $259.48.

The average selling price downtown in September was $399,364, down 10.3% from last year’s average of $421,924.  The median selling price in Downtown Sacramento was $375,000, up 1.7% from last year’s median selling price of $368,750.

Even though it comprises the two zip codes of 95814 and 95816, Downtown Sacramento is very small in terms of the number of homes that sell every month, averaging only about 13 homes per month over the last year.  September’s volume was low at only eleven homes, broken down as exactly one foreclosure, one short sale, and nine non-distressed homes.

There are 87 homes in inventory downtown, which works out to be about six months of inventory.  Twelve of these are short sales, but there are no foreclosures currently active.  At 86% of all available homes, non-distressed sales make up the lion’s share of the inventory.

About three or four times per month, I get to say the following: real estate is local.

To me, this is what makes writing about “the” real estate market much more interesting than it would be otherwise.  You see, there is no “the” real estate market — there are just lots of little local markets.  A given market at a given time may behave differently than how you would expect.  The reason may be either that it’s too small to be statistically significant, or because it just flat out doesn’t follow the rules (or both).

Based on my background writing about greater Sacramento County, I generally expect that most local markets around here will have

• Declined in price between 2007-2008.
• Increased in demand between 2007-2008.

In the Downtown Sacramento area (95814 and 95816), in contrast, what I find for July is that the market:

• Increased in price between 2007-2008.
• Decreased in demand between 2007-2008.

To be sure, the average sale price did drop 5.3% from July to July, from $486,849 in 2007 to $460,809 in 2008.  However, a more accurate indicator of price, sold price per square foot increased 4.8% from 2007-2008 downtown, with the average home fetching $284.53 per square foot in July of 2007 and $298.19 per square foot in July of 2008.

While most of Sacramento County was losing value from July to July, downtown Sacramento was gaining value, but losing buyer interest.  This year only eleven units sold in July, down 42.1% from last July’s 19 units.

Real estate in Downtown Sacramento (95814 and 95816) continued to command top dollar in May, with sold price per square foot running more than twice as high as the county-wide average, though this year’s crop of homes was much smaller overall than last year’s.  Sold price per square foot was at $319.09 in June, down only .4% from last year’s average of $320.50.  On average, however, this year’s crop of homes was much smaller, with the result that the average selling price fell some 21.5%, from $488,553 last year to $383,732 this year.

70% of the homes that sold in downtown were non-distressed sales.  No short sales sold in either year, but this June, six of the twenty sales were bank foreclosures.  In active inventory, 78% of homes are non-distressed, 5% are REOs, and 17% are being offered as short sales.

Unit Volume in Downtown Sacramento

Home Prices in Downtown Sacramento

Inventory (Based on 12 months of prior sales)

Inventory (Based on 6 months of prior sales)