The Roseville real estate market, part of the larger Sacramento metropolitan housing market, saw a decrease in foreclosures and other tentative signs of recovery during the months of April and May. According to an article in the Sacramento Business Journal, “Foreclosure filings in the Sacramento region, including notices of default, trustee sales notices and repossessions by banks, were down 12.53 percent in May compared with the same period one year ago, real estate information firm RealtyTrac reported Thursday.” The piece, composed by Michael Shaw, went on to state that “But May’s number of filings was slightly higher, by 2.25 percent, than in April of this year. According to the report, 1,488 homes in the four-county region became bank owned through foreclosure sales during the month, the company said. The trend in Sacramento mirrors that in California, where foreclosure filings were down 22 percent on a year-over-year basis.”

The average purchase price of a Roseville home for sale, along with other properties in the Sacramento metropolitan area, increased substantially in the month of May. According to a June 3, 2010 article from the Sacramento Business Journal, “Sacramento’s home prices have gone up by 11.7 percent on average over the past year, according to a report released Thursday from Clear Capital, a Truckee-based provider of real estate valuation and risk assessment for financial services companies.” The piece, also written by Michael Shaw, continued to state that “The number of bank-owned properties in the Sacramento metropolitan area, which includes Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties, has continued to decline, dropping approximately 2 percentage points over the past three months. The company said it’s likely that ‘prices will maintain positive momentum heading into the summer months.’”

The more mixed situation for California compared to Roseville real estate was mentioned in a May 24, 2010 press release from the California Association of Realtors. According to the report, “Home sales decreased 8.1 percent in April in California compared with the same period a year ago, while the median price of an existing home rose 21 percent, the California Association of Realtors (C.A.R.) reported today…Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled 483,830 in April at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate…”

El Dorado Hills is a neighborhood found in the outskirts of the San Francisco metropolitan area. The El Dorado Hills real estate market centers around the trends of the larger Bay Area’s indicators. Foreclosures have started to decline in the rest of the greater San Francisco area, a possibly positive indication for the El Dorado Hills market in particular. According to a February 16, 2010 article published by MSN Money, “Notices of default declined in the four-county region last month, but the number of banks who received the keys to homes increased compared to a year ago, according to a report released Tuesday. And foreclosure activity statewide increased last month from January 2009, according to ForeclosureRadar.” Looking specifically at the El Dorado area, the article found that “The county had 180 notices of default, while back to the bank properties almost doubled to 94 from a year ago.”

Some trouble signs for Sacramento homes for sale were noted by an article in the Sacramento Business Journal. According to the piece, written by Michael Shaw, “The Sacramento region’s median home price inched up 3 percent in January, compared to a year ago, much lower than the 15 percent increase statewide, according to a California Association of Realtors report Tuesday.” The piece, written on February 23, 2010, also noted that “The association estimated that the four-county Sacramento region’s median price was $174,830 in January, though that figure varies widely within the counties that make up the metro area, reaching as high as $310,000 in El Dorado County.  The statewide median price is $287,400. The overall number of sales for the month in the Sacramento region was down 24.9 percent compared with January 2009 – and off 29.5 percent from December.”

A larger theme for Sacramento homes and other real estate in the county was noted by a March 2, 2010 article in the Sacramento Business Journal. The article, written by Jeff Clabaugh, found that “The median sales price in Sacramento County for homes of all types, including newly built ones, was $165,000 in January, the same price compared to January 2008.”