The typical trend of real estate sales in Sacramento county has been to hover around about $100 per square foot and for sales to pick up in the short sale or non-distressed categories when foreclosure inventory fell below half a month. This in turn makes prices hover around the $100 per square foot mark if not rise a little month to month. It is not so however in the Franklin – Freeport area.

Foreclosure sales have fallen 52.2% year over year and there has been a corresponding gain in short sales by 93.3% and non-distressed property sales of 120.7% year over year. This has caused unit volume to drop by 23.7% for the same period. However, now the ratio of non-distressed to distressed property sales is looking quite a bit better at 1:3 as compared with 1:10 last September.

Average sold price per square foot however is not showing any corresponding increase. Currently it is $86.97 down 13.1% year over year from a high of $100.05. Average sales price is now $121,484 down 12.5% from $138,881 from a year ago. Median sales price is now $110,000.

Inventory is at 2.2 months based on the last year of sales and 2.4 months based on the last six months of sales.

The area of Franklin / Freeport is still riding high on foreclosures even though they have fallen by 29.4% from year to year. 192 homes sold in the area of which 125 were foreclosures, 28 were short sales and 39 were non-distressed sales. Non-distressed sales are – interestingly enough – higher by 62.5% year over year. Unit volume fell 10.7% for the same period. Distress sales are now 80% of all sales as opposed to 90% of all sales from a year ago.

Average sold price per square foot is currently $87.20 which is a drop of 19.8% year over year from a high of $108.77. Average sales price is $123,285 – a drop of 20.4% year over year from $154,912. Median sales price currently rests at $111,000.

Inventory in the Franklin / Freeport area 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 no matter how you look at it.

Real estate sales have slowed somewhat in the Franklin / Freeport area from the breakneck speed they were moving at in the month of March when we last checked in but they are still going strong. 224 homes sold in the area this month, of which 86.6% were distress sales: 163 foreclosure sales and 31 short sales. A mere 30 of the sold homes or 13.4% were non-distressed properties.

However, year over year, there seems to have been a shift in the home buyers’ perceptions which should be noted: while foreclosure sales are up just 15.6% year over year, short sales have jumped a whopping 520% and non-distressed sales are gaining ground at 76.5% for the same period. Overall unit volume is up 37.4% year over year.

This interest in short sales and non-distressed property is beginning to show some positive results in prices as well. While not markedly higher than March, prices have inched up a few dollars to sold price per square foot now resting at $77.86 and average sales price at $109,600. While both these numbers signify a drop of 30% year over year, homeowners in the Franklin – Freeport area are at least seeing some seasonal price appreciation, however small.

Inventory is at 2.3 months based on the last 12 months of sales and 2.2 months based on the last six months of sales.

Sales in the Franklin – Freeport area show no signs of slowing down. If a record number of homes sold last year, this year has broken the record and then some. A total of 287 homes sold in the area in the month of March this year – that’s a unit volume increase of 168.2% year over year.

Of these 287 homes, 242 were foreclosure sales alone – and remember I am talking about just a month here. That means about 80 foreclosures sold in the area of Franklin – Freeport every single day! 25 short sales and 20 non-distressed homes also sold this month. Year over year we see a 191.6% increase in foreclosure sales, a 400% increase in short sales and just a 5.3% increase in non-distressed unit sales.

Non-distressed home sellers have been hit harder than expected. Prices have fallen to levels uncontemplated by anyone. The average price per square foot is now $75.94 down 36.7% year over year from a high of $119.98. Average sale price is down 41.6% from $104,413 to $178,674. The median sale price is down 44.4% from $162,000 to $90,000 for the same period.

Inventory in Franklin is at 2.6 months based on the last year of sales and 2.4 months based on the last six months of sales – another indication that real estate sales in the area are showing no signs of slowing down!

If homes are selling in Florin like hot cakes, they’re selling in Freeport like… um… Christmas cookies! Here are the mind-boggling numbers: unit volume up by 404%, foreclosure sales up by 614.3%, and short sales even up by 600%! 92.2% of all home sales in the Franklin – Freeport area are now distress sales. Only 18 of the homes sold in November were non-distressed sales. Compare that with 214 distress sales! And that is only in one month!

So the 890 homes for sale one sees as active listings might seem like a large number. But they only make up 5.2 months of inventory based on the last 12 months of sales and 3.8 months of inventory based on the last six months of sales.

The reason for all this activity is obvious. Prices have fallen 44.3%. The average sold price per square foot has gone from a high of $162.04 to 90.24. Yes, double digits! Believe it or not. The average sales price has dropped 44% as well – from $224,616 to $125,600 year over year. Median sales price has dropped 47.3% for the same period – from $212,950 to $112,148.50.

If you’re looking in the Franklin – Freeport area and thinking about snagging a foreclosure for yourself, you might want to get busy. There’s a lot to look at, but the 410 REOs make up a mere 2 months of inventory! Cookies, anyone?