June 2010     12.6%
June 2009     11.5%
June 2008     6.9%
June 2007     5.4%
June 2006     4.9%
June 2005     5.1%
June 2004     5.9%
June 2003     6.3%
June 2002     5.8%
June 2001     4.5%

* Data is based on Sacramento MLS for all single family detached properties in Sacramento.

You be the appraiser here. What do you see in the trend graphs below when looking at the past years of sales? Is there anything you notice to be different or similar when comparing the two graphs? Do you think the Sacramento County Assessor has kept in touch with declining property values in the Anatolia neighborhood of Rancho Cordova? If you are a home owner, please speak on.

Past three years of sales:

Past one year of sales: 

7/25/2000 – $110,000 sale
7/16/2002 – $278,000 sale
8/18/2004 – $435,000 sale
2/10/2005 – $459,000 sale
9/08/2008 – $377,500 sale  (maybe a short sale – did not list in MLS)
5/01/2009 – $104,250 (transfer to bank – foreclosure)
7/13/2009 – $140,000 sale

What do you see? Does anything stand out to you? Let me know if you have any questions about the local real estate market or your neighborhoood. With the decline of property values in the Sacramento Region, it makes it very important to keep make sure that the Assessor reconciles their assessed value to a consistent level of true market value (it’s not always the same – at all).

Isn’t it amazing to see the impact of the housing bubble burst? Three years ago many quadruplex units in Sacramento County were selling between $400,000 to $600,000, but the bulk of sales lately have been easily hovering around $200,000 +/- or lower. With prices so low right now, many investors have understandably been purchasing 4-plex units. The ideal scenario would be to pick up a quadruplex, have postive cash flow, and then re-sell the property in a number of years when the market turns around.

I actually just finished a property tax appeal for an investor who purchased a fourplex in late 2009 for under $200,000, but the Assessor still had his property valued in the high $300,000s. He is scheduled to pay over $1,000 too much in property taxes this year because the Assessor’s records are not consistent with realistic trends in the marketplace. This is a common problem for so many properties that sold near the top of the market and are now re-selling in today’s market.

Let me know if you have any questions. Comments are welcome. Ryan 916-595-3735.

www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com The Crashing of the Fourplex Market in SacramentoSacramentoTaxAppeals.com

The information above is based on all residential sales listed in Sacramento Metrolist over the past two years. Overall, it’s true that there were less bank-owned sales in Sacramento County during the last 12 months in comparison to the year before that. The foreclosure rate decreased by 5% overall, but the interesting thing is that short sales increased by 7% during this same time period. What do you make of that? Have short sales simply replaced what would have been a similar rate of foreclosure for this year? As a home owner or real estate agent, have you found banks to be more receptive to working with you to do a short sale? Comments welcome.

www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com The Up and Down Dynamic of Foreclosures and Short Sales in Sacramento County

The graph below displays all sales in Sacramento County for duplex properties. I know, Sacramento County is an enormous territory, but sometimes viewing large ares helps to see an overall trend.

What do you notice when looking at all duplex sales in Sacramento county? It seems the bulk of sales are well under $300,000, and that the median sales price level easily lost $200,000 or more over the past three years. Ouch. There certainly are an enormous portion of sales between $100,000 to $200,000 too, aren’t there? 

Let’s take a closer look at a specific area in Sacramento by viewing sales in North Sacramento in the 95815 and 95838 zip codes. No, that’s not a ski slope, but a trend graph of all duplex sales.

It’s interesting to see what looks like two markets at hand above: One market below $100,000 and another market hovering between $150,000-$175,000. Market segmentation (bifurcation) is common depending on condition, location, size, or even the nature of the sale – short sale vs foreclosure vs typical arms-length transaction.

One more. What’s happened in the city of Rancho Cordova’s duplex market over the past thirty six months? No surprises. It looks similar to the graphs above.

When it comes to duplexes in Rancho Cordova and surrounding areas of Sacramento, the majority of recent sales are reo properties (bank-owned). For example, in a recent duplex appraisal I just completed in a Sacramento neighborhood, 84% of all duplex sales over the past 12 months within this neighborhood were REO sales and 10% of all sales were Short Sales. It’s not an easy market when 94% of all sales carry some level of distress.

Contact me at 916-595-3735 or info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com if you have any questions.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com The Bursting of the Duplex Market in Sacramento

It’s always interesting to me to take a look at a market-wide graphs to try and make sense of what property values have done over a specified time period. When looking at data like this, I ask questions like: What is the lower end of the market doing? Have there been any changes in the upper end? What does the overall trend look like? Declining? Stabilizing after a decline? Increasing? What types of circumstances may have triggered a change in the overall price levels during various times over the past three years? New laws or regulations? Unemployment? Loan rates adjusting? Economic factors? Zoning?

All graphs below are based on information from Sacramento Metrolist between 08/28/2006 to 08/27/2009. The points on the graphs represent single family residential detached units.

Number of Sales in the Past 3 Years:

• Folsom:  2,183
• El Dorado Hills:  1,665
• Rancho Cordova:  1,732
• Citrus Heights:  2,374

What do you see? What does it look like the market has done in the areas below? Does anything stand out to you or surprise you? What do you notice about the higher end of the market on all of the graphs?

Folsom Real  Estate Market Trends: 

 El Dorado Hills Real Estate Market Trends

Rancho Cordova Real Estate Market Trends:

Citrus Heights Real Estate Market Trends:

City-wide data is important to look at because what is happening in the overall city can sometimes have an impact on smaller niches and portions of housing within the same city. This is not always true, but it’s relevant to at least be aware of what is happening in the overall market so that we can more readily decipher a city’s sub-markets.

On the other hand, one of the glaring downfalls of city-wide data is that information is too general to really draw neighborhood-specific conclusions from. As we all know, each city or area typically has a host of different types of neighborhoods, and these pockets of real estate can vary drastically from each other in terms of buyer perception, price range, and many other factors. For example, Rancho Cordova has two main zip codes and the 95742 zip code (Anatolia) is far different from most of the 95670 zip code (everything else). Or properties near Old Town Folsom may have weathered the market differently than those in Empire Ranch. Or Governor’s Village and Serrano in El Dorado Hills may show differing market trends because of location, square footage, year built, or some other factor.

With all that being said, I am very curious to hear your observations and insight about the city-wide trend graphs above. Feel free to comment above (just below the post title)  or email info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com. If you are considering the worth of your property and that it may be relevant for you to dispute your property taxes, please give us a call. The first step is to talk about your possibilities and if it looks like it makes good economic sense for you to appeal your property taxes (the answer is definitely not always “yes”). Let’s talk soon (916-595-3735). 

http://www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com Real Estate Market Trends: Past 36 Months of Sales in Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Rancho Cordova & Citrus Heights (August 2006 – August 2009)

If you are not from the area, but you have traveled through California along I-5, chances are you have at least seen exit signs for both Patterson and Los Banos. We are familiar with both cities and so we figured we’d would throw up some quick and informative data as an FYI. The data below is based upon the past twelve months of sales in MLS for single family residential detached properties.  

City of Los Banos Real Estate Market Data: 08/28/08 – 08/28/09

• Last year the city of Los Banos in Merced County had 1555 sales
• 1379 of these sales were bank-owned properties (89%)
• 70 of these sales were short sales (4.5%)
• 93.5% of total sales in Los Banos were either bank-owned or short sales
• Los Banos has a 18.4% unemployment rate as of July 2009 (EDD)

City of Los Banos Links:

• Los Banos City Website
• Los Banos Enterprise (local paper)
• Community Website: Our Los Banos
• Los Banos Wikipedia Page
• Los Banos Chamber of Commerce

City of Patterson Real Estate Market Data: 08/28/08 – 08/28/09

• Last year the city of Patterson in Stanislaus County had 1108 sales
• 989 of these sales were bank-owned (89%)
• 83 of these sales were short sales (7.5%)
• 96.5% of total sales in Patterson were either bank-owned or short sales.
• Patterson has a 21.9% unemployment rate as of July 2009 (EDD)

City of Patterson Links:

• Patterson City Website
• Patterson Irrigator (local paper)
• Patterson Wikipedia page
• Patterson Centennial Website
• Patterson-Westley Chamber of Commerce
• Patterson Apricot Fiesta

What do you notice form the data above? Does anything stand out to you? Why do you think both of these communities have been plagued by foreclosures as well as a high unemployment rate? Feel free to share your thoughts by commenting above (just under the post title).

Please contact us at 916-595-3735 or info@SacramentoTaxAppeals.com if you have any questions about the data above or if you are considering appealing your property taxes.

http://www.SacramentoTaxAppeals.com Quick Statistics: Los Banos & Patterson Sales in 2008-2009 – Foreclosures & Short Sales