Shasta County Entry-Level Home Sales Activity Doubles
INDUSTRY NEWS
May 7th, 2010
Looking over April home sales numbers and comparing them to a year ago one thing stands out- pending home sales priced under $200,000 are nearly double the volume as last year. In April 2009, 33 homes priced under $150,000 sold. This year that number was 62. Twenty seven homes priced from $150,000 to $200,000 sold in April 2009. This year that price bracket saw 45 homes sold.
The number of homes sold in all price catergories year-to-year saw a 21% jump in April. Of the 168 sales reported on the Shasta Multiple Listing Service, 74% were priced under $300,000, roughly the same percentage as last year. The number of homes currently listed for sale is about 5% lower than a year ago at 1467. 160 of those active listings are bank-owned homes and another 254 home listings are short sales. These two distress sale catergories represent about 28% of the active listings. Just over 600 homes have closed escrow year to date. 529 homes are pending sale currently, up from 424 a year ago.
Even though distress sales only make up 28% of the active listings, they represent 60% of the pending sales. Buyers are attracted to these properties indicating traditional sellers are not pricing their homes competitively. Most of the people I talk to in the housing industry believe the best case scenario is prices will stabilize while many believe prices will go lower, especially in the middle and upper price points which are homes priced above $250,000 and $500,000 respectively.
Analyzing the year-to-date closings, just over half were short sales or bank-owned properties. The difference between pending and closed distress properties points to the difficulty buyers face while attempting to buy a property which is typically in rougher condition than traditional homes. In most cases buyers are required to buy these properties “as is”. Even if the buyer is willing to take on the deferred maintenance common with distress sales, the buyer’s lender may balk at loaning money on a subpar home. In many cases, these homes sell two or three times before the right buyer comes along able to offer price and terms acceptable to both the seller and lender.
530-224-6767 or 530-941-7492
BRAD GARBUTT
REALTOR/BROKER ASSOCIATE
REAL LIVING REAL ESTATE PROFESSIONALS
CORNER OF COURT AND PLACER IN REDDING
MORE THAN 25 YEARS LOCAL SALES EXPERIENCE
