The Redwood City housing market, a portion of the larger Bay Area real estate market, saw a slight decline in home sales despite an increase in median sales price. According to a May 20, 2010 article from Reuters, “Home sales in the nine-county San Francisco region continued to shift toward its more expensive markets in April, reducing overall sales and lifting the area’s median sales price from year-earlier levels, a report by MDA DataQuick said on Thursday.” The piece, written by Jim Christie, continued to note that “The region posted 7,003 sales of houses and condominiums in April, up 0.2 percent from March and down 1.9 percent from a year earlier, while the area’s median home price last month of $370,000 marked a decline of 2.6 percent from March and an increase of 21.7 percent from a year earlier, the report by the real estate information service said.”

Redwood City real estate, along with homes for sale in the rest of the Bay Area, showed a strong rally in median home prices in the month of April. According to a May 26, 2010 article in the San Francisco Chronicle, “The San Francisco area had the strongest quarterly performance among metropolitan regions in a closely watched home price index released Tuesday, although other areas and national numbers showed some weakening.” The piece, composed by Carolyn Said, went on to state that “The S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Index showed the San Francisco area – which it defines as the counties of San Francisco, San Mateo, Marin, Alameda and Contra Costa – up 16.2 percent in the first quarter, compared with the same quarter in 2009.”

The Redwood City real estate market also benefitted from a decrease in foreclosure filings and mortgage defaults. According to a June 10, 2010 article from the Contra Costa Times, “In the Bay Area – which RealtyTrac.com defines as Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, San Francisco and San Mateo counties – a total of 2,230 homeowners received a notice of default, down 38.9 percent from a year ago and a 17.5 percent drop from April. Some 1,434 homes became bank-owned properties, a 36.1 percent increase from a year ago and a 1.6 percent drop from April.”

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.”