El Dorado County Real Estate Market Update
Posted by John Lockwood on July 14th, 2008
As we reported in June, compared to our neighbors in Placer County and Sacramento County, El Dorado County has been experiencing more moderate drops in prices each year, with relatively fewer foreclosures. Thus, while the average sold price per square foot fell Sacramento County fell 33.4% from June to June in Sacramento County, and 23.5% in Placer County, the decline during the same time in El Dorado County was 16.8%.
In June of 2008, the average home sold for $462,500 in El Dorado County, down 15.1% from June of 2007’s average sale price of $544,786.
Foreclosures and REOs made up 43.4% of the total sales volume in June in El Dorado County (compare that figure to 53.3% in Placer County and 75.1% in Sacramento County). Of course, though this number compares favorably to neighboring counties, it is still quite high when you compare it to the same time last year, when short sales and foreclosures made up only 8% of all sales in the county.
As time gone on, the deeper discounts in Placer and Sacramento County — probably combined with rising gas prices — have had the effect of making these nearby areas much more attractive, as the gap in prices has widened. In June of 2007, El Dorado County homes were selling for only 6.8% more per square foot than Sacramento County homes. By June of 2008, that gap in sold price per square foot had risen to 33.5%, with the average home in El Dorado County selling for $194.55 per square foot versus Sacramento County’s $145.77 per square foot.
Unfortunately, the widening gap between what you can buy in Placer and Sacramento Counties on the one hand and El Dorado County on the other has not done much to help turn around El Dorado County’s unit sales — and indeed, this year we sold 3.4% fewer homes in El Dorado County than last year, and we currently have over 12 months of unsold inventory. Sacramento County, conversely, has been enjoying a unit volume renaissance, with 86.2% more homes sold this year than last year.
The statistics for El Dorado County are below.
Unit Volume Data
| Units Sold | June, 2007 | June, 2008 | Change | |
| Foreclosures Sold | 8 | 61 | 662.5% | |
| (% of total units) | 4.6% | 36.3% | ||
| Short Sales Sold | 6 | 12 | 100.0% | |
| (% of total units) | 3.4% | 7.1% | ||
| Non-distressed Sold | 160 | 95 | -40.6% | |
| (% of total units) | 92.0% | 56.5% | ||
| Total | 174 | 168 | -3.4% | |
Price Data
| Prices | June, 2007 | June, 2008 | Change | |
| Sold Price / Square Foot | $233.88 | $194.55 | -16.8% | |
| Average List Price | $566,637 | $483,173 | -14.7% | |
| Average Sale Price | $544,786 | $462,500 | -15.1% | |
Inventory (Based on 12 months of prior sales)
| Sale Type | Average Sales Per Month | Active | Months of Inventory |
| All Sales | 126 | 1626 | 12.8 |
| Foreclosures | 29 | 156 | 5.4 |
| Short Sales | 6 | 215 | 31.9 |
| Nondistressed | 87 | 1258 | 14.3 |
Inventory (Based on 6 months of prior sales)
| Sale Type | Average Sales Per Month | Active | Months of Inventory |
| All Sales | 121 | 1626 | 13.3 |
| Foreclosures | 39 | 156 | 3.9 |
| Short Sales | 9 | 215 | 22.2 |
| Nondistressed | 72 | 1258 | 17.3 |
Posted in El Dorado County, Real Estate Market |