DataQuick Results for October 2006
DataQuick's dqnews.com has posted their October numbers for combined sales (resale single family residences and condos as well as new homes). This time around, Yolo County leads the state in year-over-year price declines.
- El Dorado: 5.63%
- Placer: -15.00%
- Sacramento: -7.79%
- Yolo: -15.74%
30 comments:
Sac October median down 5.8% YOY. That's not much; that's not even sales tax.
Anon 8:01,
You are right on the money. This correction is just getting started now. In this area, a $500,000 house and a 5.8% drop in value means a loss of only $30,000 over the last year. We can do much better. By 2008, we should see losses totaling 50%, or $250,000 over a 3 year period. That will amount to something! Stay tuned.
By the way, you don't have to pay sales tax on a home purchase...
City of Sacramento
YOY Median Price Change:
2005
Oct 18.8%
Nov: 12.1%
Dec: 10.82%
2006
Jan: 10.45%
Feb: 8.06%
Mar: 6.52%
Apr: 4.70%
May: 4.31%
Jun: 1.12%
Jul: -2.90%
Aug: -2.90%
Sep: -2.94%
Oct: -5.80%
Me thinks I see a trend here!
Anon 8:01,
-If- the Sac Oct median were UP 5.8% it wouldn't cover the hit from closing costs.
-If- the Sac Oct median were UP 5.8% it wouldn't cover inflation.
5.8% y-o-y declines are monster.
----
Lander,
Thanks for the kind words and for remembering. I've been doing a lot of "remember last week/month/year when I said..." lately.
The yoy median price changes for the City of Sac since last fall paint a picture of a soft landing. Even though there have been pockets of trouble, most notably in neighborhoods with new development, the sky is not falling. The 10-20% yoy increases may be over, but the market is only dropping very gradually.
Every day I see properties in Sac go pending that seem very high priced. I think the economy is strong, almost everyone has jobs, interest rates are extremely low, and people are not waiting out the slump - they are buying houses, having children, and getting on with their lives. True, the pace of sales is way down, but deals are closing every day in good neighborhoods at prices not much lower than the peak of last fall. We can speculate forever about what lies ahead, but this is the state of the market today.
Anon 8:54 says;
The yoy median price changes for the City of Sac since last fall paint a picture of a soft landing.
Huh? What previous 5.8% y-o-y decline are you comparing to in order to make that call? I guess as you are falling out of a 20 story building the fall first few floors are going to feel soft. Seriously, there's absolutely no evidence whatsoever in any way shape or form, datum, survey or pojection that justifies a claim of soft landing. Just like there was no evidence of the old real estate line of permanently high plateau. You know that phrase, it was the one that replaced return to moderate high single digit rates of appreciation which in its time was the replacement for no end in sight of high appreciation going forward.
The fact that we are seeing 5.8% declines DESPITE fair to good employment, inflation and intestest rates is more evidence of prices being worse than priced to perfection.
Anon 8:54,
If you want to donate $30,000 to your "cause", please feel free. The average housing bubble takes 5 years to hit bottom after the "pop". Sac popped in mid 2005. There will be no appreciation thru mid 2010. Any one buying RE now is a fool and is wasting a lot of money.
If you don't read your history, you will make the same mistakes again. We know prices are not going up next year, and more likely will drop significantly.
JR:
802 buyers in the city of sac disagreed with your assessment last month. That's 26 per day, all fools, each and every one of them.
Anon 11:37,
First can you choose an anonymous "handle" to avoid confusion?
Anyway, those 802 purchasers don't necessarily disagree. People don't just buy houses anticipating appreciation. There's also a sizable number of house shuffles that aren't buying so much as shifting. There were over 400 not buyers last month who's motives are equally complex but notice that they didn't buy this year at 5.8% down compared to last year when their peers were buying. If you want to use purchase rates and prices thern yoir position fails your own test.
Anon 11:37
Have you seen "flippers in trouble" there are tons of investors losing their ass in this housing market. Things are getting worse daily. Anybody who buys a home now especially a first time home buyer would be making a fools move.
I hear daily about people who have lost 20% in equity from last year. This down market has just begun. We are looking at a 50% decline by early 2009.
People are not only losing equity because of declining market they are creating their own loss in equity by have a negative amortizing mortgage.
This market is going from bad to worse with a bullet.
To Anon 11:37,
I can not stop people from making foolish choices and buying into a down real estate market. Your same logic indicates 802 people thought is was a great time to sell. So are you now a seller? And if you look at the listing stats, you will see another 15,000 think it is a great time to sell....but guess what? There are not 15,000 fools looking to buy. So you must be a seller now.
There will always be some buyers and sellers in every market at every stage. Going into the depression, sellers found buyers for their stock…..all the way to the bottom, which dropped 75% in value.
I am sure there will be many completed transactions in this market all the way to the bottom. People buy for many reasons. I am just pointing out that if people don't want to lose a lot of money, they are fools to buy right now. And most likely, they will be fools to buy anytime in the next 12-24 months, until we can see some data that indicates when we will be reaching a bottom in this market. Right now, the data indicates another 30% drop in values to go with the 20% drop we have already experienced.
Right now, the data indicates another 30% drop in values to go with the 20% drop we have already experienced.
I'm not sure where you get the 20% figure. I thought we were talking about city of sac yoy median price, which peaked last year.
Real declines of 20% or more for people who bought new homes in Sac in Q3 '05 compared to existing same tract deals from the builders today.
I'd bet the sales were a combination of different factors, such as growing families who just can't wait any longer & need more space asap, new arrivals needing a house, or a few other situations not as urgent but making a house purchase anyway.
Definately agree that now is a falling market, so if possible delay or lowball your offer to buy.
Sometimes you know it's a falling knife but you need it to cut the strings that bind.
Just to clarify: the median price for all types of homes (new and existing, condos and single-family) in the city of sac, peaked last year in july and august at $345K. The median for october 2006 (city of sac, all types of homes, new and existing, condos and single-family) was $325K. That represents a 5.8% decline from the peak.
I'm not trying to spin these numbers. I'm not a home seller - I'm a renter and a potential buyer.
Anon 11:10 PM,
Here is what I wrote:
"....if people don't want to lose a lot of money, they are fools to buy right now."
If people don't mind losing a lot of money, then they are not fools to buy today. You are absolutely correct in that people buy a home for many different reasons. Economics is only one.
I will tell you my experience in this bubble market. Instead of paying $840,000 for a home in Dec. 2005, I decided to wait and rent a very nice home for $1800/month. The owner is a Flipper who paid $750,000 in April, 2006. His ownership cost is about $6,000/month. In the meantime, the house I was looking at has been reduced 23% ($190,000) and has not sold. It was recently taken off the market.
I will buy in 2008. So far, my total savings by waiting have totaled $190,000 plus $24,000 (six months at $4,000/mon net savings). I anticipate my savings, by 2008 will be over $350,000.
I can be very patient for those kinds of numbers. $350,000 is a lot of money. I can practically retire in a few years with those kinds of savings. You see, I do not want to be foolish.
jr,
There's a lot more to the economics itself, though. The dollar could get devalued (reducing the value of your savings) and house prices could continue to go up as would wages. If that happens, then having debt (as in housing debt) would actually be a good thing, since the value of the debt will have gone down. To protect your savings in such a scenario, you'd need non-cash investments (stocks, currencies, foreign stock, gold, etc.) but that entails additonal risk since again things may not play out as expected. We are already starting to see signs of salaries going up.
Admittedly, this is one possible scenario. Instead things might play out as you expect them to, but there are no guarantees.
The people that are best off in this whole thing are those that bought before the bubble (around 2000) and haven't done anything to try and cash in on it, but are rather just going on with their lives oblivious of what the market is doing.
(BTW, I am renter too.)
Paranoid Renter,
All your points are somewhat valid. All you can do at this point is look at the statistics and make a decision for yourself. I have done that and see the stats showing housing is seriously overvalued compared to historical norms. Overvalued by 100% or more in some cases, dictating a 50% reduction over the next few years. It does not matter what policies and events got us to this point, but we are here and you should be prepared to deal with it. Most people do not look at the real economics, only "can I afford the monthly payment". They will get stuck. Here is an example of two real estate professionals who got themselves stuck.... http://sacramento.craigslist.org/rfs/238233815.html
Today, they are willing to "give this house away for nothing". Yet, D.R. Horton has a much bigger house for sale around the corner for $355,000 and will provide you $10,000 cash to close the deal. The only problem with buying D.R. Horton's home is, if you buy today, you are going to be the new F'd Borrower tomorrow. Prices are dropping and nothing has changed this momentum
I own four houses, all with low LTV loans and rented for positive cash flows. I do not want to sell them, because selling costs are so high for real estate and I like the cash flow. I could by a $1 million today with 25% down. I rent today because it saves me $40,000 a year over buying in this overpriced market. And I will save another $200,000 to $300,000 when I buy or build a new house in 2008.
PR, my advice to you is to relax and choose a nice, comfortable place to live for the next year or two. I can all but guarantee that prices are not going up anytime soon. You can rent for much less, and it is likely prices are going to drop. You benefit tremendously. You will have more savings next year for a bigger down payment and you will buy a nicer house for less money.
This is not rocket science. It is logical and pragmatic thinking.
what can one say, that hasn't already been said to the Jim Jones Kool Aid Drinker who Hype Real Estate and Development?
1. Sacramento was popular, at least the burbs, because it was CHEAP relative to the rest of CA
2. Hypsters and Speculators drove prices out of whack in Sacramento proper, Midtown, Oak Park...yada yada yada about three years ago, YES that's THREE years ago...the RE Hype Artists were trading property among themselves and declaring themselves genius'
3. In Sacramento, downtown and midtown, larger development has beend driven by a flood of FREE cash from the various governmental agenicies directly to Developers, this includes, MOST if not ALL of the larger housing schemes
4. Now that the bubble has burst, the smart guys like Mark Fiedman have exited, except for projects that can be controlled, unit by unit
5. Saca and the other BS and Hype Artists are going NOWHERE, fast...in fact Saca is going to have to look to Daddy to sell more Refrigerators to at least save his hole in the ground...
but that's just "Living Urban in Sacramento"
The market is very heterogeneous right now. New developments vs. older neighborhoods, low end vs. high end, Sac vs. the Bay Area all give different views of the market. The only thing that matters is what's going on in the neighborhoods where you want to live.
Carol Lloyd wrote about this recently on sfgate.com: "What's it worth? Depends on where it is".
Young Saca in one project could wipe out the family fortune.
Ouch.
However, they did one better, I heard they bought the Howe About Arden shopping center last year as well. Great timing. They probably are getting a cap rate of 4.5%.
With debt service, they are probably breaking even or losing money.
Advice to the Saca's-
Build one tower instead of two.
Liquidate in early 2007 as much as you can.
Be in cash to buy commercial buildings from banks in early 2009.
Gwynster,
I am surprised you are even considering buying a new car off the lot. You lose 20% or more of the value when the wheels leave the lot. Look at prices in the paper. I always buy low mileage cars 2-3 years old and save 1/2 the original sticker.
That being said, if you want the new car smell, it is a good time to buy. Car sale numbers are down in Sacramento and there are probably a few deals.
Gwynster,
There was an article somewhere that said even if you get a good deal on a 2006 at the end of the year that discount is "priced in" because unless you plan to drive it till the wheels fall off, your car (according to Blue book) is worth no more than a 2006 model that was bought at the end of 2005. You will have lower miles, but for the same mileage, a 2007 will be priced higher than the 2006.
Happy Renter
I disagree with your reply:
Why NOT reference articles found "somewhere"? So what if you can't remember the exact source ,,,
geez, we ain't supreme court lawyers here needing exact citations !!
I remember you complaining about people posting anon a few months ago. Now you're upset about a vague reference to an article?
Relax already.
(Lander may delete this but I stand by my statement.
A spirited but fact-based reply is welcome)
HappyRenter
My irritation comes from hearing too many regurgitated pro RE statements.
You mean NOW isn't a good time to buy??? LOL
Gwynster,
I've never bought a new car but.. isn't there a trend now after the new year of "employee discount" pricing? Just a thought, I've heard people get really good deals that way.
HR vs. KMB debate... here is my 2 cents, my opinion only.
I'll have to side with KMB on this one. These types of blogs are informal and freewheeling discussions. However, in more formal articles (ie: Wikipedia) you have to reference the sources, otherwise they are flagged as Weasel Words.
Sorry to post as ANON, I can't seem to think of a handle yet.
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