Home Sales, Prices Drop in Solano

Home Sales, Prices Drop in Solano
By Amanda Janis/Business Writer

Solano County home sales and prices declined slightly from January to February, according to DataQuick Information Systems.

The real estate information service reported that 705 Solano homes were sold in February, which is 6.5 percent less than the previous month, though the decline in sales, it said, typically occurs from January to February. The number of homes sold last month, however, was 30 percent less than the number sold in February 2005 - the best February in terms of sales since DataQuick began keeping records in 1988.

Meanwhile, median home prices in the county decreased 1.6 percent from January to February, according to DataQuick, bringing the median price for a Solano County home to $482,000. Compared to February of last year, however, that figure represents a 16.7 percent rise in prices.

Price increases for the nine Bay Area counties slowed while home sales remained at their lowest level in five years, DataQuick reported. The median price paid for a Bay Area home in February was $616,000, which equates to a 1.5 percent price rise from January, and a year-over-year increase of 12.2 percent; the 6,206 homes sold in the region in February was 3.4 percent more than the previous month, but 16.8 percent less than February 2005.

The recent numbers, warned DataQuick's president, Marshall Prentice, aren't terribly indicative of what may be in store for the housing market.

"Right now we don't see anything ominous in the numbers, just a real estate cycle that is past the frenzy phase," he said in a written statement. "We'll know more about what's going on once next month's numbers come in. March sales have a more typical purchase pattern than February's or January's."

Amanda Janis can be reached at business@thereporter.com.