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.