It's spring, and homebuyers are back across much of the Sacramento region.
A new report Thursday showed they bought 3,431 new and existing area houses in March, nearly 1,000 more than February. March also was the first month since June 2009 to beat sales numbers from a year earlier, according to La Jolla-based MDA DataQuick, which compiled the data.
Credit goes to year-over-year sales gains in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer and Sutter counties. The counties combined for 207 more sales of existing homes than in March 2009, DataQuick statistics showed. An analyst for the firm said the numbers suggest sellers are finally willing to list their homes and deal.
"There are more sellers who have just given up on waiting for prices to come back," said DataQuick's Andrew LePage. "Sellers are being more realistic. Prices are soft and enticing some buyers."
The year-over-year gain was only 12 homes, however, as the region's repo-plagued counties - Sacramento, Yolo and Yuba - counted fewer sales than a year ago. Sacramento County reported 149 fewer as repo inventory has dwindled. Half the county's March sales were bank-owned homes. A year ago: two-thirds.
Median prices for existing homes also steadied. Three counties - Placer, Sacramento and Yolo - reported higher prices than in March 2009.
• Sacramento County's $175,000 median sales price was 9.4 percent higher than the same time last year. It was a fifth straight month to beat the previous year's price.
• Yolo County's $240,000 median was 9.1 percent higher than March 2009. It was the first time since May 2007 the county showed an annual increase instead of decline.
• Placer County's $287,000 median price was up 1.4 percent from March 2009. That, too, was the first year-over-year gain in the suburban county since July 2006, DataQuick statistics show. Median is where half of homes cost more and half cost less.
Market watchers suggested the gains will continue into April. Michael Lyon, head of Sacramento's Lyon Real Estate, credited an $8,000 federal first-time buyer tax credit that lasts until April 30, flat prices and interest rates still slightly above 5 percent.
While the federal tax credit expires next week, the state is unveiling a tax break of up to $10,000 for first-time buyers and those buying new, unoccupied houses. It begins May 1.
DataQuick said absentee buyers, most often investors, claimed 27.5 percent of Sacramento County homes sold in March. The firm said 30 percent of transactions involved cash-only deals, and 3.4 percent of sales were "flipped" properties sold three weeks to six months after earlier sale.
About 25 percent of March transactions in Sacramento County and the city of West Sacramento were short sales, the Sacramento Association of Realtors also reported. The percentage has risen steadily for a year as lenders seek alternatives to foreclosing.
Home builders accounted for 7.7 percent of closed March escrows, said DataQuick. A report being released today says builders sold only 616 new houses in the first three months of 2010. That's about 90 percent lower than the 5,178 sold in the first quarter of 2004, reported the Folsom-based Gregory Group.
The numbers show Roseville had one-third of new home sales in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. Elk Grove placed second with 15 percent of the region's sales.
"Roseville is one of the only areas that is continually offering new product," said Gregory Group President Greg Paquin. He said 13 new subdivisions have opened across the region, "the most we've seen in the last two years."
--Call The Sacramento Bee's Jim Wasserman, (916) 321-1102 or email him at [email protected]. Read his blog on real estate, Home Front, at www.sacbee.com/blogs.