In Addition to REOs...

... more short sales have begun to sell. Now that I've been watching the numbers over at the Elite Properties blog for the tri-county area as well as specific neighborhoods and here are some trends I've begun to notice throughout the end of 2008.

REOs are still good deals
We have been seeing some excellent bargains as REOs on the market. But be forewarned, some of these are going fast. Especially if they don't require much work to be liveable, these bank-owned homes are being picked up. The fastest to get sold are - of course - the model homes and others built in the last five to ten years. Banks are still pricing homes under the market and encouraging multiple offers.

Short sales are beginning to sell
Around the beginning of last year, we saw many home buyers make offers on short sales, but banks were taking a month or more to approve them. Not any more. The numbers seem to suggest that twice or even three times the number of short sales that sold around the beginning of the year are selling today. Whether they are the same ones, I can't say. Statistics have their limitations and this is one of them.

Some areas are showing signs of improvement
Even though Sacramento county as a whole seems to be bouncing around the bottom, there are areas and neighborhoods within it that seem to be showing signs of recovery. Some that come to mind are Fair Oaks, Greenhaven, and downtown Sacramento. This change seems to occur every time the REO inventory in any little pocket dries up and one of the non-distressed homes sells.

So there you have it... the three big trends toward the end of 2008. We'll see if they carry into the new year!