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When the housing crash ends, how will Sacramento grow?

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Some day this housing crash will end. Judging from history, Sacramento’s ranks of developers will snap right back into growth mode – building a fresh wave of new homes.

The big question: Will this new wave of growth create a more urban, compact Sacramento, as many community activists and politicians hope? Or will it follow the time-tested pattern of past booms in the late 1970s, the second half of the 1980s and the first half of this decade, pushing ever-larger homes farther into farmland?

Perhaps it’s easiest to expect more of the same. Suburban development has for decades been Sacramento’s main growth industry, aside from state government.

During this decade’s housing boom, builders constructed 156,000 homes, condos and apartments in the Sacramento region – largely on empty land in suburban cities. Much of this last wave of housing on former farmland has proved especially vulnerable to shredded values and foreclosures – a fate far less common in established neighborhoods closer to jobs.

Still, signs of change were starting to emerge even before the housing market fell apart. Loft-style housing projects were popping up all over Sacramento’s central city. And construction had begun on two 53-story condominium towers on Capitol Mall.

So might visions of mid- and high-rise living in downtown Sacramento take off where they left off – just as it seemed the city was reaching a new level?

Looking ahead, analysts believe the next wave of residential growth in the Sacramento region – perhaps still several years off – might be different. It’s likely to roll in with expensive gasoline, higher home energy costs and lenders’ continued insistence on tight credit.

State and federal policies governing the flow of public money increasingly favor more compact, transit-friendly types of development. And as baby boomers age, they are expected to move down to smaller housing units.

All these forces could mean more people in the next wave of growth will live in smaller homes, and more may live downtown. But no one should underestimate the ethos of the Central Valley: People here like yards and space.

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Posted in Foreclosures, Real Estate, Real Estate News | No Comments »

Sacramento’s July home sales mark a 2009 high

Monday, August 24th, 2009

Sacramento-area sales of new and existing homes reached a 2009 high in July as 3,815 buyers closed escrow, researcher MDA DataQuick reported this morning.

The sales tally included 3,495 existing homes and 320 new homes in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, according to the La Jolla-based researcher. Six of every 10 closed escrows were in Sacramento County, said DataQuick.

July sales beat June’s 3,758 total. But it was well below 4,126 closings in July 2008.

It’s the second straight month that sales have fallen below last year, when a massive supply of discounted bank repos fueled a sharp uptick in sales to first-time buyers and investors. The share of repo sales, which exceeded 70 percent early this year, fell below half in Sacramento County in July, according to the Sacramento Association of Realtors.

A dwindling share of repos drove up the county’s median price again in July to $180,000, DataQuick reported. That’s after two months holding steady at $175,000.

More significantly, the rate of year-over-year price declines greatly slowed again in July in Sacramento County, with prices 14.3 percent below the same time last year. For much of the past two years Sacramento County’s median prices – where half the homes sell for more and half for less – have slipped 30 percent or more from the same time a year earlier.

Regional highlights from DataQuick for new and existing homes combined:

• Sacramento County reported 2,318 sales, up from 2,284 in June. The $180,000 median price compared to $210,000 in June 2008.

• Placer County reported 617 sales, up from 598 in June. The county’s median sales price of $295,500 was down 14.3 percent from $345,000 last year.

•El Dorado County’s 237 sales were up from 218 in June. Its median price, $330,000 was down 15.4 percent from $390,000 in July 2008.

• Yolo County’s 240 sales were up from 225 in June. The county’s $281,500 median price was down 3.9 percent from $293,000 the same time last year.

• Sutter County reported 110 sales, down from 123 in June. The county’s $160,000 median price was down 21.2 percent from last year’s $203,000.

• Yuba County’s 113 sales were also down from 136 in June. The $155,000 median price was down 15.5 percent from $183,500 in July 2008.

• Nevada County reported 151 closed escrows, up from 143 in June. The county’s median sales price, $320,000, was down 14.1 percent from $372,500 the same time last year.

• Amador County’s 29 sales were down from 31 in June. Its $197,250 median price was down 32.6 percent from $292,750 in July 2008.

Regionally, the number of for-sale signs also fell for a 23rd straight month in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties after peaking at 16,262 in Aug. 2007. Sacramento-based researcher TrendGraphix reported 6,572 homes on the market in the four counties as July ended, the fewest in four years.

TrendGraphix said 14 percent of the for-sale signs were tied to bank repos and 27 percent to buyers seeking short sales, where banks accept less than owed to avoid the higher costs of foreclosing.

The real estate service Trulia also reported this week that 27 percent of Sacramento-area listings have cut prices, with the average drop being 11 percent.

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Posted in Real Estate, Real Estate News | No Comments »

The Smith Team awarded TOP LISTING TEAM

Wednesday, June 17th, 2009

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Posted in Awards, Publicity | 2 Comments »

Head columnist Miki Garcia publishes our response in Folsom Telegraph Newspaper

Tuesday, April 14th, 2009

Agents react to ‘outing of REO listing’ practices

Ask Miki
By Miki Garcia, Special to the Telegraph

 

As in any indusry, there are unwritten rules in the real estate community … not to be broken. But Alexis Moore snapped a few and said what needed to be said. There ain’t a kitchen area in a brokerage where agents haven’t grumbled over crumbled muffins suspecting their buyer’s offer had conveniently slipped off the listing agent’s desk

–– Miki

Dear Miki:

In response to Alexis Moore’s comments regarding whether or not an REO (bank-owned property) listing agent submits all offers to the bank, I can only speak for myself, and our team does submit all offers on available properties. As long as the offer has been submitted correctly by the buyer’s agent, we not only submit every offer, but we send fax or email confirmation once an offer has been submitted. We continue to communicate with the buyer’s agents or parties regarding status of their offer, whether it has been accepted, rejected, or countered. We take pride in the fact that we do communicate through the offer process and have been complimented by other agents that we do so.

Our feeling is that many times we are on the flip side of this business, representing a buyer, so we look for the same courtesy from the listing agent. Let’s face it, our real estate community is small, and we will work with each other again so it is important to maintain a good working relationship with our colleagues whether we are in a foreclosure market or “normal” market.

There are cases, depending on the bank, when they want us only to submit the top three offers. Others want us to submit all offers, regardless of price and terms. Bottom line is…what is going to net the bank the most? They not only look at price, but the terms, cash or financing, close in 10 days, etc. It is what’s going to get the bank the maximum dollar.

When purchasing an REO property, I always advise the buyer and their agents to submit their highest and best offer from the beginning, especially in a multiple offer situation.

If you are a buyer and working with your agent, I recommend the following steps prior to writing an offer if you want the best chance of getting your offer accepted:

· Always do your research on the house.

· Check the specific offer instructions for the property that appears in the MLS listing remarks. This is vital to your offer being submitted. If your agent doesn’t follow the requirements, the listing agent cannot submit your offer. (In regard to a buyer knowing if the listing agent has submitted their offer or not and it being a “crapshoot,” sometimes the buyer’s agent hasn’t followed specific offer instructions from the start, therefore the listing agent cannot submit the offer due to the bank’s requirements).

· Submit your highest and best offer from the start as the bank doesn’t always counter.

· Ask your buyer’s agent to make your offer as clean as possible. For example, don’t ask for the moon in terms of inspections and repairs, as most bank properties are being sold “as is.”

In response to an agent meeting the very “stringent” criteria the banks require for listing their properties, it is true that we are pre-screened and held to the bank’s high standards. Listing REO properties requires that we are not only experienced real estate professionals, but that we have the staff to manage the properties, that we have reputable contractors, gardeners, etc., to maintain the properties, that we carry the required business insurance, and, in most cases, we are asked to cover the property expenses while the property is listed. In many cases, those expenses are not reimbursed for up to 90 days with certain banks.

As far as Alexis’ comment, “real estate sales professionals also having to improve their business practices,” it’s time for agents to dust off their real estate licenses and polish up their sales skills. Today’s market isn’t the 2005 boom where anyone and everyone had a real estate license. This is an entirely different market that requires agents to use their training and experience and also learn what it takes to successfully represent their buyer in a REO transaction. In turn, buyers need to do their part by doing their research and aligning themselves with a professional Realtor.

  Tyler Smith

 

Dear Tyler:

Thanks for your advice to buyers and agents.

While it is true the majority of real estate agents adhere to an honor system, there are bad, big boys and girls that just can’t resist the cookie jar. Anyone thinking otherwise was born way before yesterday.

All around the mulberry bush, the columnist chased the weasel…  To read the previous colunm from Alexis Moore please visit Local real estate pro outs REO listing agent, bank practices

 

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Posted in Publicity, Real Estate | 6 Comments »

Tyler Smith and team awarded Fine Homes Specialist

Friday, May 2nd, 2008

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Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »