Solano Still Rules

Article Launched: 10/29/2005 08:05:02 AM

Solano Still Rules
County Remains Most Affordable in the Bay Area, Statistics Show
By Reporter Staff

Solano County remains the most affordable of the nine county Bay Area when it comes to home prices, according to figures released recently by a real estate information service.

The median price for a home sold in Solano County in September was $481,000 according to DataQuick Information Systems. That marks an increase of 21.1 percent over the median price during the same month last year, when the average home in Solano sold for $394,000.

Overall home sales in Solano were down slightly from the same month last year. In September 2005, some 1,049 homes were sold in the county, 1.8 percent less than the 1,030 homes sold in September 2004.

Rio Vista, Vallejo, Vacaville and Suisun City continue to offer the most affordable prices, according to the California Association of Realtors and DataQuick. The median price of a home in Rio Vista in September was $423,500, in Vallejo it was $435,000, in Vacaville it was $437,000 and in Suisun City it was $446,000.

Meanwhile, the California Association of Realtors reported that the median price of homes in the state increased 17.3 percent in September and sales were up by 3.9 percent.

The median price of an existing, single-family detached home in California during September 2005 was $543,980, a 17.3 percent increase over the revised $463,630 median for September 2004, C.A.R. reported. The September 2005 median price decreased 4.4 percent compared with August's revised $568,730 median price.

Home sales in the nine-county Bay Area eased back a notch for the sixth month in a row as prices continued to rise at the same pace they have since the beginning of the year, according to DataQuick.

A total of 11,205 new and resale houses and condos were sold in the region in September. That was down 7.8 percent from 12,154 for August, and down 7.2 percent from 12,075 for September last year.

So far this year, DataQuick reported that 96,591 homes have been sold in the Bay Area, down 5 percent from 101,693 for the same nine-month period last year. Last year's year-to-date sales were the highest in DataQuick's statistics, which go back to 1988. Sales this year have been the second highest.

"The Bay Area real estate market seems to have settled into a steady state, with few indicators pointing to any upcoming change. Supply and demand seem stable. We are keeping an eye on rising mortgage interest rates which could slow things down somewhat before the end of the year," said Marshall Prentice, DataQuick president in a press release.

The median price paid for a Bay Area home was $616,000 last month. That was down 0.5 percent from $619,000 in August, and up 19.4 percent from $516,000 for September a year ago. A slight decline from August to September is normal for the season. Annual price increases so far this year have ranged from 17.6 percent to 20.5 percent.

DataQuick, a subsidiary of Vancouver-based MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates, monitors real estate activity nationwide and provides information to consumers, educational institutions, public agencies, lending institutions, title companies and industry analysts.