The depreciation blues What's happening

The depreciation blues What's happening in the Sacramento, Calif., area?

According to December statistics by real estate research company DataQuick Information Systems, Sacramento County and four neighboring counties posted some of the largest median-price declines among counties in the state compared to December 2005 statistics. (See Inman News story.)

Five of the seven counties with the largest year-over-year median price drops in December were in the Sacramento region: Yolo County was down 16.8 percent, Placer County fell 15.7 percent, El Dorado County fell 9.7 percent, Sacramento County fell 9 percent and Solano County fell 6.9 percent. All are inland counties.

Other state counties in the top 10 for highest year-over-year price depreciation in December include: Merced County with a 13.2 percent drop, Madera County with a 7.3 percent decline, Santa Cruz County with a 4.6 percent drop, Santa Barbara County with a 4.4 percent drop and Sonoma County with a 3.2 percent drop. Merced and Madera counties are inland counties that border Fresno County, while Santa Cruz, Santa Barbara and Sonoma counties are coastal counties that range from the northern part of the state to the central part of the state.

Of course, these are just statistics for one month for all new and existing single-family homes and condos, and DataQuick notes, "Movements in sales price should not be interpreted as changes in the cost of a standard home. Median prices can be influenced by changes in cost as well as changes in the characteritistics and size of homes sold. Due to the low sales volume in some cities or areas, median price changes may exhibit unusual fluctuation."

Even so, these statistics appear to generally indicate that homes in the Sacramento area are suffering some of the worst price depreciation in California.
–Glenn Roberts Jr., Inman News