SACRAMENTO, CA –OBSNews.com- April 8, 2008 - People looking to buy or sell real estate in Sacramento, California and across the nation are looking for deals and banks and other lenders are often the place to look. Bank owned homes, also known as REOs are coming on the market in record numbers and prospective homebuyers are sometimes having to bid higher on properties just to buy a house. This is reminiscent of the housing market in California’s Central Valley years ago.

Real estate investors are buying houses again in the Sacramento Valley because prices have fallen significantly from their peak in 2006. While many prospective homebuyers are having trouble qualifying for loans there is still an increase in home sales in many parts of the region.

“One of the greatest things about our company is that we’re a nationwide network of real estate investors who still say, “we buy houses” but we’re also a resource for home buyers who want great deals on foreclosure houses either from investors directly or from banks,” said Patrick McGilvray, president of Sacramento real estate solutions company, www.TheHomeBuyingCenter.com. Our investors across the nation report that in many areas they feel prices have hit bottom and they are actively buying to hold or to resell to first time homebuyers.

The housing market may, as a whole, have somewhat further to fall in terms of average house prices, but there is considerable good news for buyers who want to find discounted houses to buy for the long term. The key in this market, say real estate experts like McGilvray, is to get prequalified for a loan, preferably a government FHA loan or other type loan that has a fixed interest rate. Once that step has been taken there are plenty of deals for the savvy buyer.

Median home prices in the Central Valley have dropped to 2004 levels – or further, according to figures compiled by DataQuick Information Systems of La Jolla, a real estate information company.

But the president of a Sacramento company that matches distressed homeowners with investors and prospective buyers says this could be a signal for buyers to re-enter the market.

Patrick McGilvray, president of the Web-based company TheHomeBuyingCenter.com, a unit of Online Broadcasting Systems Inc., says the drop in prices means more average workers will be able to afford home ownership.

Gone are the sky-high prices of 2005, he says, and in their place are homes in the Stockton, Modesto and Sacramento areas priced as low as $100,000. Sellers are more realistic about asking prices, he adds.

“What we’re seeing out there is a return to sanity in terms of housing prices relative to people’s incomes,” he says.

Mr. McGilvray says a key to success in today’s market for buyers is to be pre-qualified for a mortgage before they start home shopping. He says this allows buyers to move quickly when they spot the right property.

Mr. McGilvray talks about the Central Valley housing market in today’s CVBT Audio Interview. Please click on the link below to listen or to download the MP3 audio file to your computer or iPod.

http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/links/mcgilvray.mp3

http://www.centralvalleybusinesstimes.com/stories/001/?ID=8215