'Sales are Slower Than a Tortoise on NyQuil'

From the Sacramento Bee:

It's come to this: For roughly every two homes sold in August in the capital region, one house went into foreclosure, according to the newest sales statistics released Thursday. Last month, 2,978 new owners picked up keys to homes they purchased in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties, La Jolla-based DataQuick Information Systems reported Thursday. But in those same counties during August, 1,367 homeowners in foreclosure handed their keys back to the bank, according to Fair Oaks-based Foreclosures.com, a Web site for real estate investors.

That grim ratio may worsen as fall and winter sales traditionally slow and foreclosures keep rising, analysts say. Already, in Sacramento County in August, there were more defaults -- the first indicator of payment problems that can trigger foreclosure -- than sales, DataQuick reported...The county...tallied more defaults during the month -- 1,869 -- than sales, statistics show..."Sacramento (County) was positioned almost perfectly to take the brunt of this housing storm," said DataQuick analyst Andrew LePage.
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The number of sales, meanwhile, fell to a 12-year August low in Sacramento County and an 11-year low in Placer County...Clearly, such numbers are fuel for still more for-sale signs -- now at a record 16,262 in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties -- and further declines in sales prices...The county's $332,000 median sales price for new homes alone is the lowest since October 2003, the firm reported.

Prices by zip
Prices by county

Also from The Bee:

In a tough market of hesitant homebuyers, builders are trying every incentive and attention-grabbing idea they can to encourage a purchase. This weekend, New Jersey-based Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. is launching a national three-day sales blitz, which includes its nine projects in the Sacramento region.

In a local market where Dallas-based Centex Homes is running radio ads promising free swimming pools, and Texas-based D.R. Horton just held a multimillion-dollar "giveaway," K. Hovnanian Homes is throwing in free furniture for every house it sells from Sacramento to Suisun City on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. The company's model home designers have furnished six new houses -- in Galt, Natomas and Suisun City -- to show buyers what they'll get.

"The idea behind it was to come out with a big blast. The economic data is still fairly strong, jobs and incomes are still good, home prices are low, and interest rates are still low," said the builder's Sacramento spokesman Ian Cornell. "Anybody who's been considering it ought to be hopping off the fence. This is one of those mechanisms, to get them to take advantage of it."

From The Union:

Median house prices in Nevada County fell nearly 12 percent for August to $417,000, compared to $472,500 a year earlier, a real-estate tracking firm said Thursday.

"It's a fabulous time for buyers to buy," said Diane DiLeo of Network Real Estate in Grass Valley.

From the Stockton Record:

Dismal home sales have thrown Gorilla Glue into downtown Stockton's comeback, forcing postponement of a key plan to build waterfront homes. To root for a city center's redevelopment, it seems, is to wish for the 969-year life span of Methuselah. And that still may not assure you'll be there at the ribbon-cutting.

Still, you cannot blame The Grupe Co. for delaying construction of 150 condominiums on the south bank. There have been 8,000 foreclosures this year in Stockton. About 3,000 homes are for sale. In this lame market, sales are slower than a tortoise on NyQuil...Rate increases on 80 percent of adjustable-rate mortgages nationwide have not kicked in. The housing carnage is going to get worse.