"Homes sales and prices slide"

For the first time all eight counties in the Sacramento Region reported fewer sales and lower sales prices than a year earlier. A recently released report from DataQuick Information Systems analyzed home sales for September and reported the following:

Placer County has been the hardest hit with declining home prices. The median price of a home in the region’s fastest growing county dropped 14 percent to $437,000 from $510,000 in September of 2005. Sacramento County home values declined 7 percent from $384,000 in September of 2005 to $357,000 last month.

It was the first month that the median home prices dropped in El Dorado County. The county’s median in September was recorded at $469,000 down from September of 2005 when it was at $496,000, a decline of 5.4 percent.

Yolo County’s median price is now at $402,000 a 12 percent decline from last year same month. Yuba’s median declined 6 percent now at $305,000. Amador County’s median is now $326,000, a slight decline from last year and Nevada County’s median stands at $464,000 a 2.3 percent drop from September of 2005.

There were a total of 3,558 homes and condos sold in the eight county region during the month of September. That was 2,328 fewer than sold during September of 2005.

The total number of existing homes for sale is declining slightly and may be some good news for sellers. The regional inventory of homes for sale peaked in July with 15,474 and fell to 14,901 in September. If declining inventory continues through the fall and winter the spring housing market will be warmer.