Solano Home Prices Drop More Than Rest of Bay Area

Solano Home Prices Drop More Than Rest of Bay Area
Down 9 percent instead of projected 12
By Rachel Raskin-Zrihen, Times-Herald staff writer
Vallejo Times Herald

Solano County's median home price has fallen farther than anywhere else in the Bay Area over last year, according to a report released Thursday.

The good news is that according to the latest DataQuick figures, it's only fallen 9 percent instead of the expected 12 percent or more, said Jeff Dennis of Benicia's Coldwell Banker Solano Pacific.

At $446,000, Solano County's median home price is also still the Bay Area's lowest, the figures show.

"All in all, it hasn't been as bad as some had expected," Dennis said.

But, worse than the price drop, are the falling sales, Dennis said. The number of homes sold in Solano County dropped 27 percent in November, DataQuick revealed, which falls in the middle of Bay Area counties. Some of that may be seasonal, Dennis added.

Dennis, the incoming Solano Association of Realtors president, said he has noticed a spike in real estate activity lately, which may help explain why the median price

didn't decline as deeply as expected.

The steepest drops have been in the north part of the county, Dennis said.

"In Benicia, we've seen prices drop only slightly, and in Vallejo, we've actually seen them go up slightly over the past year," Dennis said.

E-mail Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at RachelZ@thnewsnet.com or call 553-6824.