Another month of real estate sales in the Sacramento area and another month where the media is reporting, ?lowest since?? Yes, September sales in the greater Sacramento area were the lowest yet in for the eight county region of Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba during 2007.
Looking a bit closer to home and only at existing detached home sales, we saw one year sales volume declines of 43.3 percent in Sacramento County, 39.2 percent in Placer County and 24.9 percent in El Dorado County. In Sacramento County, only 846 existing homes changed ownership compared with 1,146 in August and almost 1,500 in September of 2006. The September sales in Placer County totaled 258 compared to 401 in August and 426 last year. El Dorado had 145 sales in September, down from 195 in August and 193 in September 2006.
According the story in the SacBee, ?Home loan woes undercut sales? the Sacramento area is not alone. ?The Bay Area and the nine county Southern California region both reported the lowest September sales in more than two decades.?
During September median sales prices continued to decline. Sacramento County's median sales price for existing homes was $310,000, down 17 percent from the benchmark high in August 2005 and down from $350,000 a year ago. The positive news for sellers in Sacramento was the median sales price remained unchanged from last month.
In Placer County the September median sales price was $400,500, down $29,000 from last month and 11.8 percent from a year ago. At the peak of the market in August 2005 the median sales price for a home in Placer County was $505,000. The drop from then has been 20.7 percent.
Over in El Dorado County the September median sales price was $390,000, down from $428,750 in August and $448,500 in September 2006. It should be noted that in counties like El Dorado where there are not a large number of sales, these numbers can change dramatically each month depending on the mix of homes sold.
The pressure on sellers to reduce their asking price to get showings is very strong right now. Although we have started to see a seasonal decline in available homes on the market, it has not been enough to allow prices to firm. According to TrendGraphix, the data arm of Lyon Real Estate, the number of homes for sale in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties totaled 16,081 at the end of September. This is more than the number of homes on the market in September 2004. Over at HousingTracker the number of homes on the market, in their defined Sacramento area, was 18,007 as of October 15th. This is down from a high of 18,844 at the end of August. Clearly we have more homes on the market than active willing buyers and until this changes the downward pressure on asking prices will remain.
Unfortunately there is not one thing you can point to and say this is causing the slowdown. Clearly the recent changes within the Mortgage lending industry have reduced the number of buyers who can qualify. The large number of homeowners who are in financial difficulty because their payments have increased and their homes are not worth as much as they owe is an issue. We have long enjoyed buyers moving here from other parts of the country. This has slowed due to problems in their own area, in other words, they need to sell somewhere else before they can buy here and can't. Finally, there are potential buyers who are just waiting to see what happens. Why buy now when I can buy later at a lower price is their motto.
With the falling prices the lower end of the market is now below $200,000 and appears to be attracting investors back into the market. Several sources have reported this but there is no hard evidence this is a growing trend although I did get a call from an investor in the Bay Area is interested in looking at some property to rent. We will see.
Based on what I am seeing in my business at MagnumOne Realty, I believe we may see a spike up in sales in October and November. We have had more showing in the past few weeks and I think there is a natural desire for buyers to want to be in their new home for the holidays.
My successful weight loss journey began by first making two very important commitments. The first commitment was that everything I did to lose weight would be oriented toward improving my health.
Secondly, I resolved that this time rather than going on a ?diet?, I was going to learn to change my habits so the weight I lost could be permanent.
One thing I knew was that a task of this magnitude would certainly not happen overnight. It did, in fact, take me three years to achieve my goals. Much like the tortoise in his race with the hare, however, I did eventually ?win? my own personal weight loss ?race.?
Most diets fail because feeling constantly deprived and living in a state of semi-starvation simply cannot be tolerated mentally, emotionally or physically for any length of time. Since I knew I was in this for the long haul, I made it my mission to find a way to stay feeling as full and satisfied as I could. To achieve this goal, I created meals emphasizing nutrient-dense foods such as vegetables, whole grains, oats, legumes, fruit, and soy. When these foods are eaten in their ?whole-foods? form, with minimal processing, the fiber and nutrition they contain contributes to a full and satisfied feeling, not to mention their benefits to health. Restaurant meals, fast food and take-out are notoriously high in fat and calories, not to mention the expense!
To achieve my goals, I made the commitment to spend some time in the kitchen learning to prepare healthy foods. I began by first developing something I call my ?Top 40? list of favorite, healthy foods. These nutrient-dense foods that I truly enjoyed became the mainstay of my daily diet. I turned it into a game to see how jam-packed with nutrition and low in calories I could make my meals, so I could eat a satisfying quantity of food and not feel deprived. I had fun revising existing favorite recipes by substituting high-fat ingredients with lower-calorie / lower-fat foods until I came up with a weight-loss friendly version of something that also tasted good. I enjoyed sneaking as many vegetables as I could into a dish, to up the fiber content. I experimented with foods I had never before tried (and thought I didn't like) such as Brussels sprouts, Cannellini beans, and soy.
Because I'm a busy person, I focused on developing meals and snacks that could be prepared easily - in about 15 minutes. The more I learned to make quick, easy and enjoyable recipes that I liked to eat and that truly filled me up, the easier it was to stick to my weight-loss plan. My abilities to create quick and easy snacks and meals evolved and improved over time, and I began to refer to my technique as being the ?How Low Can You Go?? method.
There was another interesting and unexpected ?How Low Can You Go?? component to this process of learning to eat healthy, nutrient-dense foods. When I first began to shop for them, I made a startling discovery ? it's pretty inexpensive to eat well! I could buy split peas for $.39 per pound! Whole-wheat flour cost $.49 per pound! Fresh fruits in season are quite reasonable, and full of sweetness. Frozen vegetables were readily available and were often on sale. Staples such as carrots, onions, garlic, potatoes and oats are easily incorporated into many recipes, available year-round, and inexpensive. A wide variety of legumes (beans) are full of protein, complex carbohydrates, fiber and B-vitamins. Beans are quite versatile for making soups, dips, side dishes, salads or as a main course, and are also very filling. They are regularly on sale in my grocery store for only $.89 per can.
Eliminating most packaged and processed ?convenience? foods and relegating more expensive items such as meats and cheeses to be a smaller, flavor-enhancing part of the meal really helped stretch the grocery budget. Developing the habit of limiting restaurant meals and packaged ?convenience? foods and, instead, planning, and preparing nutrient-dense meals and snacks in my own kitchen helped me achieve my health and weight loss goals. My new ?How Low Can You Go?? habits will not only help me keep the weight off, but may help contribute to me enjoying a long and healthy life. The economic benefits associated with selecting nutrient-dense foods become even more obvious when comparing the long-term costs of eating healthy foods vs. eating not-so-healthy foods. Healthy foods are truly a BARGAIN when compared to the astronomical costs of treating diseases such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, gout, kidney failure, and arthritis.
Both Julie Jalone & Patricia Church are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Julie Jalone has sinced written about articles on various topics from Sell Home, Buying and Selling Home and Lose Weight. Julie Jalone is a professional experienced Realtor serving the needs of buyers and sellers of residential real estate in the Sacramento area. Her company, MagnumOne Realt. Julie Jalone's top article generates over 33100 views. Bookmark Julie Jalone to your Favourites.
Patricia Church has sinced written about articles on various topics from Real Estate, Lose Weight and Blood Pressure. Patricia S. Church RN, BSN, author of The Tortoise Diet invites you to learn more about how she lost 120 pounds. Visit her site at. Patricia Church's top article generates over 33100 views. Bookmark Patricia Church to your Favourites.