Sales volume in Folsom as elsewhere in Sacramento county has dropped considerably. It might be safe to call this year the slowest year in real estate since we started tracking numbers. Overall unit volume declined 31.6% year over year with sales dropping from 76 last July to just 52 homes sold this July. Foreclosure sales and non-distressed properties both dropped – the former fell by 52% while the latter by 29.5% year over year. Short sales increased by a small number – 2 more short sales this July over last July. Almost 3 out of every 5 homes currently sold are now non-distressed sales.

Average sold price per square foot in Folsom declined 6% year over year. From a high of $176.48 last July, it now rests at $166.08 this July. Average sales price fell 4% correspondingly to rest at $350,840 from a high of $365,587. Median sales price is now $351,450. Last July it was almost the same at $355,500.

Inventory in Folsom is around 4 months. Foreclosure inventory is around 1 month. Short sale inventory is the largest at right around 9 months.

Home buyer interest in real estate in the city of Folsom continues to peak with 81 homes sold overall this month. That is a unit volume increase of 19% year over year from just 68 homes selling last June. Foreclosure sales fell 19% year over year while short sales increased 41.7% for the same period. Non-distressed property sales also increased – albeit at a lower pace – 27.5% year over year. Currently, 63% of all homes sold are non-distressed as compared with 58.8% last year at this time.

Average price per square foot is now $169.44 which is a 3.2% decline year over year from a high of $175.02. Interestingly, home buyers also bought homes exactly 3.2% larger this year than they had last year at this time, leaving average home prices almost the same at $357,318 in Folsom. Last June, the price for an average sized home in Folsom was $357,483. Median sales price however has fallen again to $341,500 – that’s a 7.1% decline year over year from $367,500.

Inventory in Folsom is at 4.3 months.

We have been relatively hopeful about Folsom throughout this real estate market decline and we continue to be even now. Folsom seemed to escape the worst of this decline and seems to be recovering better and faster than other places in Sacramento county.

May was a good month for the city of Folsom. 88 homes sold in the month of May in the area, as compared with 61 homes a year ago, an overall unit volume increase of 44.3% year over year. Perhaps the most significant difference was the increased short sale inventory of 144.4% year over year. Foreclosure sales remained almost the same and non-distressed property sales increased by 36.1% year over year. Good news overall.

Average price per square foot is now $171.21 down 3.5% year over year from a high of $177.33. Average sales price fell 7.7% for the same period from $373,817 to $344,866 currently. Median sales price remained almost the same as last May at $352,500.

Folsom’s inventory is at a very steady 5 months.

51 homes sold in the city of Folsom this month. As compared with 66 homes last April, that was a decline of 22.7% year over year. Foreclosures fell 33.3% and short sales 38.5% while non-distressed homes fell 9.4% making Folsom one of those rare areas where there were year over year declining real estate sales in all categories. (In most other areas of Sacramento, foreclosure sales are falling while short sales and non-distressed property sales are increasing.)

Average price per square foot remained almost the same year over year in Folsom at $177.16. Last April, it was $178.32. Interestingly though, homebuyers purchased homes on average 12.4% smaller this April than they did the last, which led to the average sales price to drop by 12.9%. Average sales price currently rests at $331,343 from a high of $380,617. Median sales price is now $325,00 down 9.7% from $360,000 last April.

Real estate inventory in Folsom hovers around 5.5 months. Foreclosure inventory remains higher in Folsom than most other places in Sacramento county at right around 2 months.

79 homes sold in the city of Folsom this month, an overall unit volume increase of 43.6% year over year. Foreclosure inventory seems to be relatively higher in Folsom than it is elsewhere in Sacramento county. Whereas elsewhere in the county, foreclosure inventory hovers around a month, here in Folsom it is almost double that.

It is no wonder then that sold REOs continue to make up about 20% of all sold homes. Short sales currently make up 25% of all sales and the rest are attributed to non-distressed homes. The good news is that we are slowly beginning to see an increase in non-distressed sales as buyers long for less paperwork and easier home purchases without the lender being involved for approvals, as is the case in both short sales and foreclosure sales.

Average price per square foot is not $169.57 which is 7% lower than it was a year ago. Last March average price per square foot was resting at $182.25. Homebuyers this month also bought homes on average 9% bigger than they did last March. Average sales price as a result has climbed 1.4% over last year to rest at $378,232 from $373,185. However, the more accurate figure is price per square foot. Median sales price has also risen correspondingly to $375,000.

Inventory in Folsom is now at 4.9 months. Foreclosure inventory is at 1.9 months and short sale inventory is at 12.7 months based on the last year of sales and 10.7 months based on the last six months of sales.

Folsom has an interesting real estate landscape right now. For most of last year, it was one of the few places in Sacramento county that did not see price declines, where foreclosures and REO sales didn’t really show up on the map as much as elsewhere, but it seems like that is changing a little this year. Or perhaps because of that slow change, homebuyers that were waiting and watching are beginning to pick up some good bargains.

Just 40 homes sold in the city of Folsom in February, an overall unit volume decline os 18.4% year over year. Of these, 13 were foreclosure sales, 13 short sales and 14 non-distressed sales – an even division between all categories. When compared year over year, though, we see that short sales have more than doubled, foreclosure sales have remained the same but non-distressed sales have fallen to less than half of what they were a year ago.

Average price per square foot is now $174.23 which is 7.5% lower than it was a year ago. Average sales price is now $322,220 which is 21.2% lower year over year. However, homebuyers seem to have been interested in smaller homes – much smaller than a year ago – in fact, 14.8% smaller. So the more accurate figure here is the average price per square foot. Median price is currently $302,500.

Folsom has approximately 5 months of inventory.

A total of 54 homes sold in Folsom in the month of January – that’s a 45.9% increase in unit sales year over year. The real estate recovery might be taking its time coming in terms of prices, but the number of distressed properties sold has gone down, which might make quite a few homeowners quite happy.

Foreclosure sales were down by 36.8% year over year while short sales gained 116.7% for the same period. The biggest gains were in the non-distressed category of real estate sales where 141.7% more homes sold this January than the last. 53.7% of all homes sold are now non-distressed sales, a significant improvement over last January where just 32.4% of all homes were not either foreclosures or short sales.

Average sold price per square foot is now $179.55 which is almost the same as it was a year ago when it was $180.23. Average sales price currently rests at $329,121 which is 7.9% under what it was last January. Median sales price is now $314,000.

Inventory in Folsom is at 4.6 months.

Even in the holiday season, Folsom posted more home sales in the month of December than it did in the previous month. 77 homes sold this month leading to an overall unit volume increase of 54% year over year. In fact, we saw increases in every category of real estate sales: foreclosure sales rose 5% short sales rose 157% and even non-distressed properties were 65.2% higher in sales than a year ago.

Part of the reason for all this homebuyer interest might be that Folsom has yet to post price increases like the rest of Sacramento county overall. Average price per square foot is currently $164.91 which is 9.7% lower than it was a year ago. Average sale price is also currently depressed at $350,048 – about 10.6% lower year over year. Median sales price is $348,000.

Inventory in Folsom is at 4.2 months based on the last year of sales and 3.9 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at a little under 2 months.

November has been a good month for real estate home sales in the Folsom area. Sales have been up in each category as well as the total unit volume. 13 foreclosures sold in the area – an 8.3% increase year over year, along with 13 short sales – a 44.4% increase for the same period and 37 non-distressed properties also sold – an increase of 32.1% for the same period. Overall unit volume is up by 28.6% with 63 homes sold this November.

Sold price per square foot is the same as it was last month at $175.04, lower year over year however by 9.5%. Homebuyers afforded themselves homes on average 7.1% bigger this November than last November. Average sales price is now $374,111 down 3.1% year over year from a high of $386,010. Median sales price is now $362,000.

Inventory in Folsom is currently at 4.9 months based on the last year of sales and 4.5 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 1.7 months no matter how you look at it.

Real estate prices as well as home sales in Folsom have recovered slightly, a phenomenon not seen often lately. 69 homes sold in the Folsom area – almost the same number as last October. These included 22 foreclosure sales, 11 short sales and 36 non-distressed homes. This is an increase in unit volume year over year by 3% which is just the 2 more short sales this month over last October.

Average sold price per square foot is now $175.49 which is 9.6% lower than it was last year from a high of $194.03. Last month, it was $173.09 so it is a little higher month over month. Average sales price is $364,305 down 12.5% year over year from $416,239. Median sales price rests at $350,000.

Inventory in Folsom is at 5.5 months based on the last year of sales and 4.9 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 1.7 months no matter how you look at it. The real dark clouds on the horizon are of course the short sale inventory – 16.1 months based on the last year of sales! And homebuyers are not lapping them up in the last six months either: that number is at 15.8 months!

Although we see a drop of 40% in REO sales, unit volume in overall real estate has gone up by 13.5% in Folsom year over year, a good sign that homebuyers are beginning to explore other avenues of buying homes besides REOs. Short sales (up 100% year over year) and non-distressed sales (also up 37% for the same period) are still priced inexpensively as shown by the price data.

Average sold price per square foot is now at $173.09 which is 9.2% under average sold price from last September. The average home in Folsom now sells for $378,440 as compared with its average price in last September when it would have fetched $425,514. That is a drop of $11.1% year over year. Median sales price is Folsom currently rests at $375,000.

Inventory in Folsom points to the last six months of increasing sales. Based on the last six months, inventory has shrunk to 4.7 months. If we look at the average of the last twelve months though inventory is at 5.2 months. Foreclosure inventory is at 1.5 months no matter how you look at it.

A total of 57 homes sold in the city of Folsom this August as compared with 68 last August. That shows a unit volume drop of 16.2% year over year. Of these, 12 were foreclosure sales (a gain of 33% year over year), 9 were short sales (no change) and 36 were non-distressed properties (a drop of 28% year over year). One wonders if the so-called shadow inventory finally made it on to the market to renew homebuyers’ interest in REOs this month.

Average sold price per square foot is currently $179.32 – a drop of 8.9% from $196.91 last August. Interestingly enough, homebuyers also bought homes on average 12.5% smaller than they did last August. Average sales price is $368,475 down 20.3% year over year from a high of $462,287. However, keep in mind that the price per square foot is more accurate a measure than the average sales price. Median sales price rests at $340,000.

Overall inventory is at 5.5 months based on the last year of sales and 5 months based on the last 6 months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 1.2 months no matter how you look at it.

A total of 76 homes sold in the Folsom area of Sacramento county in July. Not a terrific showing as unit volume fell by 13.6% year over year. Foreclosures gained however: a total of 25 foreclosed homes sold this July over just 16 last July, an overall increase of 56.3% year over year. Short sales – on the other hand – as well as non-distressed homes fell 22.2% and 30.2% respectively year over year.

Average sold price per square foot has not changed much since last month. It is currently $176.48 down 13.5% year over year from a high of $203.97. Average sales price is currently $365,587 down 16.6% from $438,247. Median sales price is $355,500. Interestingly enough, the average home sold this July was also 3.6% smaller than the average home sold last July, so the more accurate measure here is the average price per square foot.

Inventory in Folsom is at 5.5 months based on the last 12 months of sales and 5.1 months based on the last 6 months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 1.2 months no matter how you look at it.

Our bastion of security in the real estate market updates that Folsom used to be is not any more. Is that because homebuyers were waiting until the markets around it started to recover and then went in to buy? Who knows? But one thing is for sure: Folsom is taking its time recovering from the real estate slowdown and sinking prices.

A total of 68 homes sold in Folsom in the month of June. Of these 40 were non-distressed homes, 16 were foreclosure sales and 12 were short sales. Homebuyers seem to be losing interest in foreclosures as they suffered a decline in sales of about 30% year over year. Short sales gained 20% while non-distressed home sales also fell by 15% for the same period.

Average sold price per square foot is at $175.02, a few cents lower than last month and about 12% lower than last June. The average sold home was also about 3% smaller than that sold last year. The average sales price is at $357,483 – 14% lower than it was last June. Median price also fell, but not as drastically year over year. Median price is at $367,500 which is 3.4% lower than it was last June.

Inventory in Folsom is at 5.1 months based on the last year of sales and 5.3 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is at 0.6 months no matter how you look at it.

Sales have definitely slowed in Folsom and perhaps this is a harbinger of a more normalizing market. We’ll have to watch and see what it means but overall unit volume has dropped 25.6% year over year! Only 61 homes sold in Folsom in the month of May with declines in foreclosure sales (15.8%) and non-distressed sales (33.3%) and no change in short sales.

Sold price per square foot currently rests at $177.33. That is a 12.1% drop from last May’s $201.71. The average sales price has also toppled 14.6% year over year to rest at $373,817. Last May, it was $437,844. The median sales price is Folsom is currently $350,000.

Inventory in Folsom is at 5 months based on the last year of sales and 5.7 months based on the last six months of sales. Foreclosure inventory is one month no matter how you look at it.

A total of 65 homes sold in Folsom this month with the number of sales pretty evenly divided between distressed and non-distressed sales. This is something we haven’t seen in a while and could just be a harbinger of a more normal (or normalizing) market. 21 of the homes that sold were foreclosure sales (that’s 32.3% of the total sales) 13 were short sales (20% of the total) and 31 were non-distressed homes (47.7% of all sales). Year over year, the change has been significant: foreclosure sales are up 91%, short sales are also up 160% and non-distressed sales are down 47.7%. Overall unit volume is up 10.2% for the same period.

Sold price per square foot is currently at $178.29 – that’s 9.5% lower year over year than $196.92. The average home in Folsom sold this month for $383,580 which is 10% under than last April’s average sale price of $425,622. The median sales price has also toppled 13.6% year over year from a high of $420,000 to rest at $363,000.

Inventory is at 4.7 months based on the last year of sales and 5.6 months based on the last six months of sales, which makes sense since we’re just coming out of winter. Foreclosure inventory is at 1.2 months and 1.3 months respectively.

Folsom seems bent on getting rid of its short sale inventory which could be a good thing for home sellers. Short sales seem to be the bright light in an otherwise dull Folsom real estate landscape – well, in terms of sales anyway.

A total of 55 homes sold this month in Folsom – 24.7% lower than last March’s sales of 73 homes. We also see declines in every category of real estate sales except short sales. 13 foreclosures sold (that’s 18.8% lower year over year) and 27 non-distressed homes sold (that is 47.1% lower year over year). Short sales happily gained 150% over last March: a total of 15 short sales sold this March as compared with just 6 last March.

Average sold price per square foot hovers around $182.25 – a decline of 12.5% year over year from a high of $206.85. Average sales price is currently at $373,185, also a decline of 12.9% year over year. Median sales price is currently at $370,000.

Inventory is at 4.8 months based on the last 12 months of sales and 5.8 months based on the last 6 months, pointing to the recent decline in homebuyer interest in Folsom.

Rising real estate prices may have dampened home buyer’s hopes in Folsom. That’s right – you read that right. I did say “rising home prices.” But since there are still 106 short sales on the market that are getting absorbed at the slow rate of 8 short sales a month on average we can rein in some enthusiasm (I know, Folsom dwellers, I know!) and call it “prices that are not falling.”

Because they haven’t. In fact, we are seeing a year over year increase in home prices, not to mention month over month. The average sales price is up 0.8% year over year from $405,875 to $408,950. I know, it seems like a small amount until you see what it was last month: $357,374! The average price per square foot is also higher than last month’s $180.23. It is currently $188.46. This number, while 6.2% lower than last year gives Folsom dwellers some hope that their local real estate market might be on the road to recovery. Median sales price has also recovered 0.4% year over year to rest at $400,000 from $398,250.

But wait, I did mention that sales are down, didn’t I? Foreclosure sales are down 29% and short sales are down 25% year over year. Non-distressed properties are up 35% in sales. Non-distressed homes were also the majority of homes sold in Folsom this month – 63% of total sales, which is a reversal of last February’s sales chart which showed the majority of sold homes as distressed properties. Overall unit volume remains almost unchanged year over year. 49 homes sold this February as compared with 48 last February.

Inventory is at 4.8 months based on the last year of sales and 5.9 months based on the last 6 months of sales.

The Folsom real estate market steadily seems to digest its short sales. And that might well be what homeowners in Folsom want in this current real estate time. Consider that short sales are up 500% year over year. Numerically, it just means that while only 1 short sale sold last year at this time, this time 6 closed escrow. Unfortunately, there are 102 currently on the market.

The rest of the real estate sales continue as they did last month: heavily leaning toward the distress sales but not completely overtaking non-distressed sales like we see elsewhere in Sacramento county. Besides the 6 short sales, we see that 19 foreclosures and 12 non-distressed homes also sold in the city of Folsom last month. So now two of three homes sold are distressed, whereas last month we saw that 1 out of 2 homes were distress sales.

Average sold price per square foot is now at $180.23 – that’s a decline of 11.3% over last January’s $203.19. Average sales price has fallen 15.5% from $423,061 to $357,374. Median sales price has also suffered a decline of 19% from a high of $399,250 to currently $322,000.

The sluggish sales are beginning to show in the inventory numbers. Based on the last 12 months of sales, we see that there is 4.5 months of inventory, a number we saw last month. However, based on the last 6 months of sales, inventory is currently at 5.3 months. Foreclosure inventory is at 1.8 months.

There might be good news on the horizon for Folsom dwellers, but it’s still too early to call. The numbers though seem to suggest a healthy market for home buyers. With the current real estate climate coupled with proximity to the rest of Sacramento county taking a toll on prices on homes in Folsom, buyers have enjoyed some bargains here. However, that could change very quickly – and Folsom is one of the areas where we will see it first.

Unit volume is down 9.1% year over year in Folsom. And we continue to see a nice balance between foreclosure sales and non-distressed sales. 20 foreclosures and 23 non-distressed homes sold in Folsom in December. The rest (7) were short sales. Non-distressed sales are down 46.5% however over last year, while distress sales have gained momentum. Foreclosures were up 122% and short sales up 133% year over year.

Sold price per square foot – the most reliable indicator of home prices – has fallen yet again from $212.19 to $182.68 currently. It is 13.9% under last December. The average sales price has also tumbled 12.9% over last year, from its high of $449,488 in December 2007 to $391,428 last month. That is however higher than November’s average sale price of $386,010. Median sale price year over year has also fallen from $380,000 to $361,450. That is a drop of 4.9%.

Inventory is at 4.5 months.

Either foreclosures are not looking as interesting to home buyers in Folsom or they are taking a break to buy things other than homes. With all the shopping around there, I wouldn’t doubt it.

In stark contrast to other areas in Sacramento county, we have seen non-distressed sales make up the majority of home sales in Folsom for a while now. 57% of all home sales in Folsom were non-distressed and the rest were foreclosures (24.5%) and short sales (18.4%). However, with non-distressed sales still suffering a decline of 47.2% over last November, overall unit volume is down 23.4% year over year.

Inventory is also down, although not sharply enough to make any predictions. Based on the last year of sales, it is at 5 months and based on the last 6 months of sales, inventory is at 4.6 months.

Sold price per square foot has fallen 10% over last November – from $215.32 to $193.34. Average sale price has fallen 18.6% for the same period. From its high of $474,148 last year to $386,010 this November.

Home owners in Folsom have a lot to cheer about. While Folsom has been the last vestige of hope for Sacramento county’s falling prices, it has still seen price declines. They just haven’t been as severe and as deep as the rest of Sacramento. October brings better news. After a long time, we are beginning to see price declines in the single digits.

Consider this: The sold price per square foot saw a month over month increase to $197.22 from last month’s $190.47, but it is still a decline of 9% from last October’s $216.62. The average sales price is down 4.8% from last October’s $436,943 to $416,141. The median price is also down – 6% – falling for the first time this year under the $400,000 mark – to $389,500 from last October’s $414,500.

Nondistressed sales still make up the majority of all home sales in Folsom, albeit a smaller majority – 64.3% – as compared with last October’s 82.7%. Based on 12 months of prior sales, inventory is at 5.3 months and based on the last 6 months of sales, inventory is at 4.8 months.

Though not immune to the overall market downturn, sellers in Folsom are in a much better position than their counterparts elsewhere in Sacramento County.  Non-distressed sales still made up some 71.1% of all sales in July — more or less a mirror image of Sacramento County as a whole, where non-distressed sales comprised only 22.3% of the total.

Partly as a result of the relatively low number of foreclosures, prices in Folsom have fallen off less dramatically than in other areas of the county.  Sold price per square foot fell 11.1% in Folsom from July to July, from $229.38 in 2007 to $203.89 in 2008.  This July the average home sold in Folsom for $440,997, down 11.6% from last July’s year’s average of $498,793.

Although the increase in demand this year has been less dramatic than in other areas, unit volume has still increased 12.2% in Folsom, from 74 units sold in July of 2007 to 83 units sold in July of 2008.  Even without a huge upswing in demand, however, buyers in Folsom have kept the inventory trimmed back nicely.  Currently there are 5 months of inventory (based on 12 months of absorption), or an even more healthy 4.3 months of inventory if you look at the absorption for the last six months.

In May we were able to report — based on inventory at least — that Folsom had entered seller’s market territory, with inventory of only about four months of non-distressed sales, and 3.8 months overall.  This month’s inventory is up somewhat but still healthy, at 5.1 months for non-distressed sales and 4.9 months overall.  Eighty homes sold in Folsom in June, one unit more than during the same time last year.

This June, the average home sold in Folsom for $415,797, 19.6% less than last year’s average of $517,470.  Sold price per square foot fell 16.4% during this time, from $237.09 in June of 2007 to $198.30 in June of 2008. 

Non-distressed sales accounted for 58.8% of all sales in Folsom in June.  Bank owned properties accounted for 28.7% of sales, with short sales bringing up the rear at 12.5%.

Unit Volume Data

Price Data

Inventory (Based on 12 months of prior sales)

Inventory (Based on 6 months of prior sales)

All Real Estate is local.  Several months ago there was a big debate among some real estate bloggers about whether real estate bloggers should engage in the cultural crime of “localism”, or whether they should do whatever else they would be doing if they weren’t doing that.

I had to laugh, because, as I said:  all real estate is local.  If you doubt me, try buying a house that isn’t where it is.  Let me know how that works out.

You can say “the real estate market” is an oxymoron, or you can say “the real estate market” is an abstraction that often breaks down at the local level. 

Here’s an example.  Overall, area-wide, nation-wide, yes we’re all in a panic, the sky’s falling, oh my goodness, yada yada yada.  That said, for several months in row, East Sacramento was going through a serious seller’s market.  They didn’t get the memo. 

The seller’s market in East Sacramento later stopped.   I haven’t checked out the numbers this month yet, so we’ll find out later — maybe it’s back.

Meantime, owners in Folsom may with some justice declare that the seller’s market has traveled east of Hazel Ave and has landed squarely in 95630.  Yes, prices have come down from last year — albeit to a lesser degree than the averages for any of the counties that surround Folsom on three sides.  Sold price per square foot fell 14.9%, the median price fell 10.6%, and the average sale price — at $437,332 — was down 11.9% from last year’s average of $496,302.

However, inventory is down below the six month figure that traditionally defines the border between a buyer’s market and a seller’s market.  Based on unit volume for May, it’s down to 3.8 months, and even using the absorption rate of the last year, it’s at 5.06 months.  Best of all, the inventory figure for non-distressed homes — you know, those poor people who actually continued to pay their mortgage before they sold — stands at 4 months.

Unit volume is up 17.9% from last May, and the expired to sold ratio is down, from 38.8% (already a low figure) in May of 2007, to 15.2% in May of 2008.  The only fly in all this sweet smelling ointment is the figure for average days on market, which is up to 52 days (compared to 34 days last May).