Unit volume is down by half year over year – quite a difference! 49.1% lower market volume has mainly been the offshoot of 68.2% lesser REOs selling in the area of Elder Creek and Fruitridge. There have not been enough short sales or non-distressed sales to make up the difference. 9 short sales sold this January as compared with 8 last January. Also 18 non-distressed properties sold over 13 last January, a gain of 38.5% year over year. A total of 54 homes sold in the area.

Average price per square foot is now $88.90 which is a 10% increase year over year from $80.81 of January of last year. Average sales price also rose 10.5% from $91,831 to $101,515 currently. Median sales price is now $94,000 a gain of 44.6% from last January.

Overall inventory is at 3.1 months based on the last year of sales and 3.7 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory seems low at a little over half a month. Short sale inventory however is still over a year.

A huge drop in unit volume sales this month marks the possible recovery of the Fruitridge real estate market. Foreclosure sales have fallen 72.3% year over year and overall unit volume has dropped 50% for the same period. Inversely, short sales rose 50% and non-distressed sales 81.8% for the same period. While 2 out of 3 sold homes is still a distress sale, this landscape no doubt looks healthier than it did a year ago with 9 out of 10 home sales being distressed.

Average price per square foot rose 19.3% year over year from $75.59 to $90.21 as it inched toward that $100 mark. Average sales price is finally (again) in the six figures from $86,294 last December to currently $100,497. Median sales price is currently $95,000.

Overall inventory for the Fruitridge area is at 2.9 months based on the last year of sales and 3.3 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is barely around half a month.

It only takes a small decline in foreclosure sales to begin to see price increases and this is true even in the Fruitridge and Elder Creek area of Sacramento county. Foreclosure sales fell by 59.8% year over year from 112 sold last October to just 45 this October. Short sales doubled from 6 to 11 and non-distressed property sales gained by 56.5% for the same period. Overall unit volume fell by 34.8%.

All this and price increases, albeit small. From $80.72 last October we see a price increase of 5.5% year over year to $85.17 this October. This corresponds to an increase in average sales price from $90,818 to $102,458 year over year pushing sales price above the $100,000 mark. Median sales price is now $88,950. Interestingly enough, homebuyers also bought homes on average 7% bigger this October than they did last October.

Inventory sits at 2.5 months based on the last year of sales and 2.7 months based on the last six months of sales corresponding to the slow sales we are seeing. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.3 months and 0.5 months respectively.

If you’re looking to buy a home for five figures in the Sacramento area, you wouldn’t go wrong by looking in the Elder Creek / Fruitridge area. Prices have fallen and continue to fall here to unheard of numbers. Average price per square foot this month was $87.45 which was a decline again of 4.2% year over year from a high of $91.25. Average sale price is now $97,937 in the area down 7.2% from $105,586 last September. Median sales price currently rests at $76,000.

The clear winners in sales in the area are of course short sales. Foreclosure inventory is rapidly drying up and homebuyers are looking at well-priced short sales for bargains. Foreclosure sales fell by 45.9% year over year while short sales gained 433.3% for the same period! Non-distressed property sales remained the same almost with just a 5.6% increase for the same period. Overall unit volume fell year over year by 23.6% with just 81 homes selling this September as compared with 106 last September.

Inventory is at 2.4 months based on the last year of sales and 2.7 months based on the last six months of sales.

87 homes sold in Fruitridge this month, a drop in unit volume by 10.3% year over year. Not surprising, since the drop in foreclosure sales has been substantial – 25% year over year to be exact. Meanwhile, short sales have gained 85.7% and non-distressed sales have also gained 11.1% for the same period. Non-distressed sales are now almost a quarter of all real estate sales in the area.

Average sales price per square foot in Fruitridge is now an unbelievable $80.97 which is 18.5% lower than it was a year ago when it was $99.41. The average home which then sold for $113,778 can today command a price 19.8% lower – a mere $91,250. Median sales price is at an unheard of $66,288.

Overall inventory is at 2.1 months based on the last year of sales and 2.3 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.3 months. Short sales should start gaining momentum if this market is to turn around someday: short sale inventory is at 19.5 months and 16.1 months respectively.

If you were surprised when the average price per square foot in the Fruitridge / Elder Creek area fell to under $100 you’re going to be horrified to read that average price per square foot is currently $81.87 a square foot.

Fueled by perhaps these low prices, unit volume has surged to 12.8% higher than last July. 106 homes sold this July in the are and the majority are still foreclosure sales. Short sales are also beginning to pick up. Foreclosure sales fell by 19% year over year however and non-distressed gained 141.7%. Short sales gained 333.3% year over year and emerged as the winner.

Average sales price is now $88,370 which is 20.6% lower than it was last July from a high of $111,361. Median sales price is at $69,450 – believe it or not – which is 31.2% lower year over year! The average home sold was incidentally 4% smaller this July as compared with last July.

Inventory is at 2.2 months based on the last year of sales and 2.3 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.4 months no matter how you look at it.

For the first time this year, real estate sales in the Elder Creek and Fruitridge areas were down year over year. Unit volume is currently down 15.6%. It comes as no surprise when we see foreclosure inventory beginning to dry up. It was down 17.1% year over year while non-distressed sales are also down 33.3% for the same period. Only short sales have gained 200% year over year.

A total of 76 homes sold in the area of which 58 (or 76.3% of all sales) were foreclosed properties, 6 were short sales (7.9% of all sales) and 12 were non-distressed properties (15.8% of all sales.)

Average price per square foot is at an unbelievable $70.64, a drop of 35% year over year. Average sales price is $82,677, also a big fall from last June’s average sales price of $125,967. Median sales price currently sits at $72,500.

Inventory is at 2.2 months based on the last year of sales and 2.3 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.3 months.

A little seasonal relief there for homeowners in the Fruitridge / Elder Creek area as we begin to see prices rise just a little bit over the last month. However, it still has a long way to go. Inventory and sales both seem to suggest that foreclosure inventory is beginning to dry up even in this area and home buyers are beginning to show an interest in short sales. Still, out of a total 105 homes that sold this May, 74 were foreclosure sales. The remaining 22 were non-distressed properties and 9 were short sales.

Year over year, we see that foreclosure sales have gained 29.8% and even non-distressed sales have gone up by 46.7% but the greatest increase has been in short sales – 350% over last May.

Average sold price per square foot has gained a few dollars from April’s price – it is currently $73.93. Still, it is a drop of 32.6% year over year. Average sales price is also higher than it was last month at $87,540 but 29.1% lower than last year at the same time when it was $123,487. Median sales price is currently $70,000.

Inventory is relatively low at 2.3 months. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.4 months.

Fueled by low prices, the sales in the Elder Creek / Fruitridge area continue to rise. 120 homes sold this month in the area of which 103 were foreclosure sales! The rest were divided equally between short sales and non-distressed sales. Overall unit volume in Fruitridge is still 71.4% higher than it was last year at the same time showing that this area has still to rid itself of a lot of homes before the market will stabilize.

Foreclosure sales have spiked 87.3% year over year; short sales have also registered a huge increase of 700% for the same period, while non-distressed homes have suffered a decline of 36% for the same period.

The average sold price per square foot is currently an unbelievable $67.69 – that’s a drop of 42.1% year over year from a high of $116.91. The average sales price is $76,589 down 37.2% from last April’s $121,988. The median sales price is $65,000 down 39.5% for the same period.

Inventory is at 2.4 months based on the last year of sales and 2.2 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.6 months and 0.5 months respectively.

A total of 99 homes sold this March in the area of Elder Creek and Fruitridge for a total unit volume increase year over year of 86.8%. Foreclosures alone have jumped in sales by 131% and short sales by 250% while non-distressed sales have dropped by 40%. Of the 99 sold homes, 83 were foreclosure sales, 7 were short sales and 9 were non-distressed homes.

90% of all homes that sell are now distress sales with only 9.1% being non-distressed. Foreclosure sales take the major chunk of the sales pie at 83.8% of sales and short sales are the remaining 7.1%. We are beginning to see a marked increase in short sales.

Average price per square foot is now at $68.87 down 41% from $116.55 year over year. The average sales price is $79,254 down 42.2% from $137,187 for the same period. Median price is currently at $58,000.

Inventory is at 2.9 months based on the last year of sales and 2.6 months based on the last six months of sales.

Is this the end? Or is this the end? How about now? Now? When it comes to the Fruitridge area, it seems hard to say. If we go by the unit volume numbers, sales definitely are up 150% year over year. A total of 105 homes sold this month, the majority of which were foreclosures. 93 in fact. 3 short sales and 9 non-distressed homes also sold. Of course, foreclosure sales took the cake for being 258% over last year’s foreclosure sales. Non-distressed property sales fell by 44% year over year.

Price data gives us no good news either. Average sold price per square foot fell by 48% year over year down to $68.03 from last February’s $130.95. Average sales price is down 45% for the same period from $142,108 to $77,784. Median sales price is down 56% from $136,250 to $60,000.

If that’s getting you hiding under the couch, here’s some good news: inventory is at 2.1 months based on the last year of sales and 1.8 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is down to an unbelievable 0.8 and 0.6 months!

…and they keep coming! Sales volume in Fruitridge continues to remain high with low prices and a supposedly high demand. Unit volume is up 208% year over year in the 95820 and 95824 areas. 101 foreclosures sold this month – an increase of 304% over last December and 8 short sales also closed. That is a change of 700% positively. So the majority of sales now are distress sales by far. 91% in fact of all sales are distress sales. No wonder then that non distressed sales have fallen. We see a 15% decline in these sales year over year.

The prices are beginning to look pretty good for the first time homebuyers. We see a decline of 47% year over year in the sold price per square foot data. Where last year at this time, we were at $141.59, this year we see an average price per square foot at $75.59. The average sales price is also down 47% year over year from its high of $164,123 to $86,294.

Median sales price in Fruitridge is down a whopping 56% from $159,900 to $70,500.

Inventory is at 4.4 months based on the last year of sales and 3.0 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 2 months, but there are still 150 short sales the market needs to absorb before we see any improvement.

For long I have said and believed the old real estate saying about sellers selling in a sellers’ market, but buyers not buying in a buyers’ market. The sales in Fruitridge-Elder Creek might just make me eat my words. When bargains abound, at some point, home buyers sit up and take notice. And then, (gasp!) they buy! They certainly have around Fruitridge and Elder Creek.

There has been a 242% increase in unit volume in Fruitridge year over year. Whereas a mere 33 homes sold last November, this November saw 113 houses sell – that’s almost 4 homes a day! 91 of these were foreclosures (80.5% of the total homes sold), 7 were short sales (6.2%) and the rest 15 (13.3%) were non-distressed sales. The foreclosures sales accounted for an increase of 355% over last November’s foreclosure sales.

What could lead to this kind of frenzied buying? Well, the prices might give us a clue. The average sold price per square foot has fallen 54% since last November: from a high of $169.35 to $77.35 today. And so has the average sales price. It has also tumbled from $195,629 to $89,135 for the same period. The median sales price has seen a 58.3% drop from $180,000. It is currently $75,000.

Inventory is at 5.1 months based on the last year of sales and 3.8 months based on the last six months of sales.

Sacramento’s Elder Creek and Fruitridge areas include the zip codes 95820 and 95824.  Since last year two things have happened, and one of them implies the other.  First, prices have fallen — a lot.  Secondly, demand has increased — also a lot.  This common "demand curve" pattern is one we see demonstrated over and over again, and September’s numbers for Elder Creek and Fruitridge are as good an example of it as we’ve seen anywhere.

Unit volume has quadrupled in this area from year to year.  Last September, only 25 homes sold in the Elder Creek and Fruitridge area, whereas this year there were 106 sales.  The vast majority (80.2%) of the new sales were foreclosures, 2.8% were short sales, and 17% were non-distressed.

At the same time, sold price per square foot has been cut almost in half.   Last year the average sold price per square foot was $178.31, while this year the average was down to $91.25, a decrease of 48.8%.  Over the same time, the median sale price dropped 52.9%, from $188,000 in September of 2007 to $88,500 in September of 2008.  This year the average home sold for $105,586 in Elder Creek & Fruitridge, down 47.4% from last year’s average of $200,679.

Inventory in Elder Creek Fruitridge is at 7.1 months (based on one year of sales) or 5.1 months (based on the last six months).