Sometimes when thinking of property value in the Sacramento area, I think of the “steep grade” signs on the side of the road. Most trend graphs for the market over the past several years end up looking something like these signs.

I just finished up an appraisal in the Capital Village neighborhood of Rancho Cordova, and I wanted to give a glimpse of recent sales and listings in the neighborhood and larger market area. There is a pretty clear downturn, which is difficult to swallow for home owners, but prospective buyers have a sweet taste. The graph below includes all property types in Capital Village (fusion, bungalows, reflections, cottages).

What about current listings in Capital Village? Here they are per Sacramento MLS.

It’s very common for a neighborhood to see trends that are similar to the overall city or region, but it’s not always the case. Sometimes a neighborhood can stand out for whatever reason and escape some of the turmoil from the surrounding market. Though in this case, it’s clear that property values in the 95670 zip code have seen a decline over the past several years.

I know, I’ve shared some bad news today about the real estate market. I’m sorry. But stats are stats and my property has not escaped similar stats either (oh, the pain). The one redemptive feature of a downturn in property value is a savings on property taxes. Additionally, a decline in value does not mean the neighborhood is any less unique. Check out a tour I gave of Capital Village in 2009 (It’s discouraging to see so much more gray hair from two years ago).

What stands out to you about the graphs? How might information like this be useful? If you live in Capital Village, what do you love about the community?

If you have any questions, or real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact Lundquist Appraisal by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook, Twitter or subscribe to posts by email.

I have a guest post up today entitled “Is unemployment tied to Sacramento real estate” on Sacramento Real Estate Voice. Thank you Gena Riede for inviting me to post. Go check it out and give it some love. The post really focuses on sales and unemployment rates over the past few years in the Sacramento area and takes a specific look at Folsom, Galt, Rancho Cordova & North Highlands. Here is an example graph from the post. It’s amazing to me to see figures like this.

Visit my guest post HERE. Thanks so much.

If you have any questions, or real estate appraisal or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact Lundquist Appraisal by phone 916-595-3735, email, Facebook or subscribe to posts by email.

The City of Rancho Cordova is currently considering changing zoning code in a way that would essentially do away with garage conversions. Basically, the new code would allow a garage conversion only if the property owner built another garage somewhere else on the parcel (which effectively means nearly all properties will not qualify for a conversion). The slide below is from a presentation on May 24, 2011 at a council work session. See the entire slideshow here.

The main reason for this conversation and potential change is about curbing blight in neighborhoods since garage conversions often contribute to a decline in property value. However, while it’s true that an individual property usually sells for less when the garage is converted, the real question is whether a garage conversion on a street results in other properties losing value. How much market weight does one conversion have for an entire street or tract?

Questions: Do you think garage conversions contribute to blight? How so? Is this a good move to help increase property values? Where is line between what a city can do to boost real estate values and the rights of residents? What blight issues make the most negative impact on value in a neighborhood? Are you aware of other cities or areas where conversions are illegal? Would making conversions illegal be a negative factor in the eyes of buyers? I’d be curious to hear your constructive thoughts below.

NOTE: I will update this post at some point to let you know what is decided on the issue. Again, this is only conversation among City Council right now.

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our appraiser website or via Facebook. 

What’s the difference between Stone Creek, Capital Village, Anatolia and the rest of Rancho Cordova? Have a look at the trend graph below of all sales over the past three years throughout the City of Rancho Cordova. Houses built before 1990 include territory north of Highway 50 as well as south too. Properties built after 1990 in the 95670 zip code basically include the Stone Creek area as well as Capital Village (most houses were built in the past ten years, though there is one development built in the mid-1990s). Lastly, the 95742 zip code includes Anatolia, Kavala Ranch and Sunridge.

What do you see? What stands out to you about differences or the overall trend?

If you have any real estate appraisal, consulting, or property tax appeal needs in the Greater Sacramento Region, contact me at 916.595.3735, by email, on our company website or via Facebook.

It’s easy to view all sales in a given city on one graph, but what happens when we begin to unpack data a bit and look at specific areas or zip codes? We just might notice differences because there are often a number of real estate segments or sub-markets within a given city. As we all know, not all neighborhoods are competitive to each other, so it’s important to try to look at neighborhood-specific data to really understand the real estate market. Below is a trend graph of all sales in the City of Rancho Cordova over roughly the past five years.

There are actually three zip codes in Rancho Cordova (only two with houses really though). Let’s put the 95670 and 95742 zip codes in Rancho Cordova next to each other below and do a little comparison to see if we might get better data this way as opposed to just looking at the graph above. What do you see when viewing data in the 95670 zip code (not Gold River – only Rancho Cordova) in comparison to the 95742 zip code (Anatolia, Kavala Ranch, Sunridge)?

Rancho Cordova Real Estate Data (95670 Zip Code)
* 107 sales over the past 90 days
* 5.4 months of current housing supply listed on the market
* $146,000 median sales price over the past 90 days
* Average days on market: 64 days
* Number of active listings: 92
* Number of active short sale listings: 59
* Number of active short sale contingent listings: 43
* Number of pendings: 56
* 42% of all sales over the past year were REO (bank-owned)
* 26% of all sales over the past year were Short Sales
* Roughly 68% of all sales were distressed in some regard (REO or SS)
* Unemployment in Rancho Cordova is 14.4% per EDD (as of 12/2010)
* Unemployment in Sacramento County is 12.6% per EDD (as of 12/2010)

Rancho Cordova Real Estate Data (95742 Zip Code)
* 61 sales over the past 90 days
* 7.1 months of current housing supply listed on the market
* $231,000 median sales price over the past 90 days
* Average days on market: 86 days
* Number of active listings: 44
* Number of active short sale listings: 60
* Number of active short sale contingent listings: 41
* Number of pendings: 54
* 32% of all sales over the past year were REO (bank-owned)
* 29% of all sales over the past year were Short Sales
* Roughly 61% of all sales were distressed in some regard (REO or SS)
* Unemployment in Rancho Cordova is 14.4% per EDD (as of 12/2010)
* Unemployment in Sacramento County is 12.6% per EDD (as of 12/2010)

What stands out to you about the differences between 95670 and 95742? When we combine 95742 data into 95670 data to show all of Rancho Cordova, the entire median sales price level for Rancho Cordova increases, doesn’t it? Can you see why I think it’s important to look at these zip codes separately? Ah, we can make data say so many things if we’re not careful to really dissect it.

If you have any real estate appraisal, valuation consulting, or property tax appeal needs, contact me at 916.595.3735, www.LundquistCompany.com or via Facebook.

I took my oldest son to the 11th Annual Rancho Cordova Christmas Tree Lighting last night in the Capital Village area. I took some photos as well as shot a few brief clips with my Flip camera (only 40 seconds as shown below). This was a festive family-friendly event, and it’s always nice to run into so many familiar faces too. 

This annual event takes place in the Capital Village neighborhood in Rancho Cordova at Village Greens Park. If you’re interested to learn more about this neighborhood, you can check out a previous video tour I shot a year ago where I drive through the neighborhood and talk through the different types of houses.

I think events like the Christmas Tree Lighting help shape a sense of community for Rancho Cordova as well as boost a festive atmosphere for the Capital Village neighborhood. What events in your city or neighborhood help foster a sense of connectedness or pride among residents? Also, if you live in Capital Village, what do you think of the yearly Christmas Tree lighting (on top of all the other events)? Good? Bad? I’m curious to hear your perspective.

If you didn’t know, the city of Rancho Cordova is home to several stellar monuments. Between appraisal inspections today I snapped the following images of a Pony Express memorial on Folsom Boulevard next to the Valero gas station on Dawes. This historic monument is an important piece of local history, yet it’s quite easy to miss because of its location in front of a vacant lot and next to commercial properties (gas station and Rosie’s Country Kitchen).

Does anyone know how many other Pony Express monuments there are in Rancho Cordova? And where are they located? What other tributes to history can one find in Rancho Cordova? Let’s see who knows local history. 

I put together a series of city-wide graphs to show the past three years of home sales within Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Rancho Cordova & Citrus Heights. It’s always interesting to me to take a look at a market-wide graphs to try and make sense of what property values have done over a specified time period. When looking at data like this, I ask questions like: What is the lower end of the market doing? Have there been any changes in the upper end? What does the overall trend look like? Declining? Stabilizing after a decline? Increasing? What types of circumstances may have triggered a change in the overall price levels during various times over the past three years? New laws or regulations? Unemployment? Loan rates adjusting? Economic factors? Zoning?

All graphs below are based on information from Sacramento Metrolist between 08/28/2006 to 08/27/2009. The points on the graphs represent single family residential detached units.

Number of Sales in the Past 3 Years:

• Folsom:  2,183
• El Dorado Hills:  1,665
• Rancho Cordova:  1,732
• Citrus Heights:  2,374

What do you see? What does it look like the market has done in the areas below? Does anything stand out to you or surprise you? What do you notice about the higher end of the market on all of the graphs?

Folsom Real  Estate Market Trends: 

 El Dorado Hills Real Estate Market Trends

Rancho Cordova Real Estate Market Trends:

Citrus Heights Real Estate Market Trends:

City-wide data is important to look at because what is happening in the overall city can sometimes have an impact on smaller niches and portions of housing within the same city. This is not always true, but it’s relevant to at least be aware of what is happening in the overall market so that we can more readily decipher a city’s sub-markets.

On the other hand, one of the glaring downfalls of city-wide data is that information is too general to really draw neighborhood-specific conclusions from. As we all know, each city or area typically has a host of different types of neighborhoods, and these pockets of real estate can vary drastically from each other in terms of buyer perception, price range, and many other factors. For example, Rancho Cordova has two main zip codes and the 95742 zip code (Anatolia) is far different from most of the 95670 zip code (everything else). Or properties near Old Town Folsom may have weathered the market differently than those in Empire Ranch. Or Governor’s Village and Serrano in El Dorado Hills may show differing market trends because of location, square footage, year built, or some other factor.

With all that being said, I am very curious to hear your observations and insight about the city-wide trend graphs above. Feel free to comment above (just below the post title)  or email info@lundquistcompany.com. If you are in need of additional and more specific research or an appraisal, let’s talk soon (916-595-3735).

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com Real Estate Market Trends: Past 36 Months of Sales in Folsom, El Dorado Hills, Rancho Cordova & Citrus Heights (August 2006 – August 2009)

I shot this video below earlier while in the field in between inspections. There are quite a few people searching for information on the “Capital Village” neighborhood in Rancho Cordova and this site is getting a good amount of hits on the subject. I figured it would be relevant then to shoot a little informative video about this Rancho Cordova subdivision.

Let me know if you have any questions about Capital Village. You can contact me at 916-595-3735, www.lundquistcompany.com.

www.SacramentoAppraisalBlog.com A Video Tour of “Capital Village” in Rancho Cordova: June 2009

Here is a quick post to show what you can buy a house for in the 95670 zip code in Rancho Cordova these days. It looks like there are some good deals, huh? The 95670 zip code covers the North side of the freeway (”Riverside” portion) as well as some of the Southern side of Highway 50 (Stone Creek, Capital Village, some older tracts). There are currently 193 listings in MLS for detached single family residential properties.

If you have any questions about the Rancho Cordova real estate market, feel free to give us a call at 916-595-3735 and see www.lundquistcompany.com or www.ranchocordovaappraiser.com

“Anatolia” is a newly-built HOA community in Southern Rancho Cordova located within the 95742 zip code. There are roughly 2000 housing units which have been built since 2005 and construction is still ongoing. Below you will find some of the latest real estate market trends in Anatolia as of today’s date.

The following graphs take the past thirteen months of sales into consideration and are based upon data provided through Sacramento Metrolist.

“Anatolia” in Rancho Cordova Real Estate Market Data:

• 347 sales over past 12 months
• 80 sales over past 90 days
• Average of 26.67 sales per month over past 90 days
• 201 current Listings
• 7.5 months of housing supply currently listed on the market (due to aggressive pricing, this inventory may not necessarily be on the market that long. In fact, the previous 90 days had 8.5 months of inventory and then the six months prior to that had 12.4 months of inventory. It would appear then that right now the inventory is decreasing).
• Median Sales Price over past 90 days: $288,000
• Median Sales Price over previous 90 days: $312,016
• Median current List Price: $275,000
• Median Listing Days on Market: 54

Please feel free to give your two cents, ask questions, or provide any supplementary information or data by commenting above. You are welcome to contact me for additional information and questions too at 916-595-3735 or www.lundquistcompany.com

I had a conversation today with a friend about Rancho Cordova real estate market trends and I made this graph to show her in an image of what words so often say – that the market has declined.

When making trend graphs in many local areas and cities in the Greater Sacramento Region, I often think the overall trend looks like a ski slope. This one above is maybe a bit more bunny-slope-like, but still, you get the point. If you have questions about the local real estate market, feel free to contact me at 916-595-3735 or www.lundquistcompany.com

A Closing Thought:  Looking at market trends doesn’t often times “bring gladness to the heart of man” so to speak (that was a quote from Chimay, if you follow), so let’s remember that relationships and so much of life can be wonderful even though home values aren’t much to brag about right now.