If the housing market was a reality TV show I’d say it was The Biggest Loser. Do you know that show? It’s the one where contestants weigh in at say 436 pounds and then shed a few hundred of those pounds to become very trim over time. Well, that’s sort of like what has happened in the Sacramento market – except we’re talking about distressed sales instead of pounds.

The foreclosure rate used to be close to 50% several years ago, but now less than 5% of all sales over the past two months in Sacramento County are foreclosures. On top of that, short sales have also been trimming down as they’ve diminished by roughly 10% over the past year.

The Inventory Story: Despite distressed sales seeing a decline, housing inventory has been on the rise lately. This essentially means equity sales are what is driving the uptick in housing supply. Whether these are flipped houses that used to be foreclosures (or short sales) or home owners that were waiting for the right time to list as the market recovered, it’s nice to see more property owners in the “black” testing the market again. Ultimately inventory is still very low, but buyers can definitely feel the difference or shift that happens when a few hundred extra homes hit the market.

Any thoughts, questions or stories to share? Comment below.

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