By Jim Wasserman

Sales of new and existing homes in the Sacramento region registered a typical seasonal bounce in March, with 2,522 transactions closing escrow, according to the newest statistics from DataQuick Information Systems. Still, the prolonged housing slump continued as median prices fell throughout the area and sales of new homes dropped sharply.

March’s numbers were a change from the 2,162 homes sold during February in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.

The sales price statistics showed that investors and first-time buyers continue to focus on bank repos. The Sacramento Association of Realtors reported that almost half of March closings in the county and West Sacramento were for homes valued at $250,000 or less.

Yuba County saw median sales prices dip below $200,000 for the first time since January 2004, DataQuick reported. Median is that point where half cost more and half cost less.

Overall, Sacramento county sales of new and existing homes combined were up 19 percent in March from the previous month. While encouraging in light of a slumping housing market, the 20-year average is 36 percent, according to DataQuick.

Closings on new homes showed the weakest March numbers as many buyers shop for bank-owned bargains. DataQuick reported that year-over-year sales of new homes were down 35.6 percent in Sacramento County, down 42 percent in Placer County and down more than 70 percent in Sutter and Yuba counties.

By contrast sales of existing homes were down just 9 percent in Sacramento County. That was the lowest year-to-year sales dip of all eight counties.

Other March highlights:

• Sacramento County’s 1,501 March closings on new and existing homes combined were the fewest since March 1997, according to DataQuick. The tally was down 14 percent from the same time last year.

• Median sales prices also dipped to $247,000, a level not seen in the county since May 2003. Median prices are now 36 percent below August 2005 highs of $387,000.

• Placer County’s 464 new and existing home sales were the lowest since March 1996, and were down nearly one-third from the same time last year.

• The county’s March median sales price of $355,000 is 19 percent below a year ago and off one-third from the August 2005 high of $525,000, DataQuick reported.

• The El Dorado County median sales price dipped again in March to $362,250, down 21 percent from the same time last year.

• Yolo County’s March median sales price fell to $327,500, down 16 percent from a year ago.

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

A convicted sex offender was charged Thursday with killing a 71-year-old real estate agent whose body was found near a smoldering mattress in a home she had been showing him.

The criminal complaint alleges that James A. Hole choked Ann B. Nelson with her scarf and beat her with a fireplace poker Tuesday after she said something he didn’t like, then set the house on fire with the still-conscious grandmother of 16 inside.

Hole, 34, of Brookfield, Ill., was charged with first-degree intentional homicide, arson and burglary. Bond was set at $1 million and a preliminary hearing was scheduled for April 4. He had not been assigned a public defender as of Thursday afternoon.

Nelson, of Cambridge, Wis., was found dead Tuesday night in a smoke-filled room of a vacant home near the town of Oakland, authorities said. Deputies had tracked her down after her family called authorities and said she hadn’t come home.

An autopsy concluded Nelson died of smoke inhalation, but she also had head injuries, investigators say. Sgt. Lawrence Lee, a Jefferson County sheriff’s detective, said a weapon was recovered but declined to be more specific.

Hole was arrested after he was taken in for questioning Wednesday night, Lee said. Records show he served more than eight years in prison in Illinois for aggravated criminal sexual assault before his release in January 2006, the criminal complaint said.

The complaint said Hole told investigators he met with Nelson to see property that he had not realized at first was only a lot with unimproved land. The agent then offered to show him nearby property with a home on it.

Hole initially said he did nothing to Nelson except shake her hand, but authorities say he later gave them a different story.

While Nelson was showing him the house, they discussed price and Nelson questioned why Hole was looking at a home he would not purchase, the complaint said.

“The next thing he knew, he was upset and strangling Ann Nelson,” the complaint said. It said he admitted choking Nelson and hitting her at least twice with a fireplace poker that broke.

The complaint said Hole left the building, then returned so he could start a fire to destroy evidence.

It said he saw the woman was still moving and was conscious. He said he set a box of tissues on fire so he could use that to set the bed on fire, according to the complaint.

Hole said he did not intend to kill her, the complaint said.

The complaint said Hole also admitted taking a purse from Nelson’s vehicle, taking valuables from the purse and hiding it in the house, where it was later found.

District Attorney David Wambach would not say whether Nelson had been sexually assaulted. Autopsy results cited in the complaint mention no such evidence, but the burglary charge alleges that Hole entered a room in the house with the intent to commit second-degree sexual assault.

The charges against Hole carry a maximum penalty of life plus 52 1/2 years in prison.

Nelson has three sons and three daughters and was active at church and in the community, said a son, Doug Nelson.

“She was always willing to help. No task was ever too difficult,” he said.

The Wisconsin Realtors Association sent a note to its members informing them that a member was found dead at a vacant listing.

It urged them: “Please do not let your guard down — your safety is primary!”

Barry Luce, an owner of Re/Max Community Realty in nearby Lake Mills, said Nelson had worked for the company for four years. Her death stunned colleagues, he said.

“Everybody is very concerned,” he said. “We can’t believe something like this would happen in small-town America.”

Nelson said on her page of the company’s Web site that it was “a dream come true” to live and work in the area.

“Church and community are important aspects in my life, and it is rewarding to be involved in situations to help others who have needs,” she said on the site.

Oakland is about 25 miles east of Madison.

By Elizabeth Razzi

Maybe the world doesn’t need yet another real estate Web site promising to revolutionize the way we buy homes. But the launches keep coming anyway, and the Washington area just got a new one, Sawbuckrealty.com, earlier this month.

Sawbuck, a real estate brokerage that exists only on the Web, makes all the usual promises: cool and easy home searches, referrals to real estate agents, and the chance for buyers to save thousands of dollars on each deal. It sounds wearingly familiar, but Sawbuck looks as if it could be smarter than the average URL.

It allows you to search all the homes listed on the local multiple-listing service, Metropolitan Regional Information Systems, and includes price data that used to be available only to real estate agents. It’s likely to be the site I use most often to search listings and gather price information.

Sawbuck is the baby of Steve Barnes and Guy Wolcott, who run a District mortgage lender, Flex Funding. Its launch includes only Washington-area homes, at least for now.

Sawbuck’s business model addresses some long-standing problems in how real estate deals are handled on the Web and in the physical world.

One of those problems is that too many sales tools, from low-tech yard signs to high-tech Web sites, direct buyers to the agent who listed the home, even though the listing agent already represents the seller. Smart buyers find their own agent who can negotiate for a lower price and better terms.

Another problem is that too many brokerages promote their own mortgage and title services to buyers without offering substantial discounts for keeping all that extra business under one roof.

That’s not the way it should work. When you buy the burger, fries and Coke, McDonald’s gives you a cheaper price than if you buy the pieces separately. It’s the same thing with homeowners and auto insurance; if you buy them together you get a discount. But real estate brokers rarely offer a substantial price break when you buy their combo package.

Sawbuck tackles both issues. The system does not funnel buyers to the listing agent. Instead it offers to match buyers with an experienced local agent who can represent them. And it promises significant discounts if you use it for brokerage, mortgage and title services.

I’ll get to the details on those discounts shortly. First let’s look at the fun part of the site, the search function. All worthwhile real estate Web sites offer a good search function; it’s the carrot that lures potential buyers.

Sawbuck is not the first Web site to offer full multiple listing service access in the area. Redfin.com, for one, offers it. But Sawbuck makes the information easier to find and provides more price data for recently sold homes.

Redfin recently boosted its price-comparison content, but its pages are statistic-heavy and harder to interpret than Sawbuck’s. The latter’s approach is easier: Click on the map, look at the house picture, and see the sellers’ original asking price and their current price. You can click from house to house and get the history of recent sales through the whole neighborhood.

Map-based searches, such as the one on Sawbuck and other sites, are a fun, efficient way to explore neighborhoods. Sawbuck’s version offers more information than most. Click on a for-sale house to get the full addresses, original listing price, subsequent price markdowns and the length of time on market. That’s critical information for estimating how much a property is worth.

Sawbuck makes it easy to track where you’ve visited already. You can rank each home on a scale of one to four stars. On repeat visits, just skip those you’ve already given a low rank. (Rankings are just a memory aid and are not published on the site.)

Unlike other sites, Sawbuck allows you to use the same map flyover method to gather price information for recently sold homes. It includes the original list price and the actual sales price, which can help you figure out the direction in which prices are trending.

After you’ve finished searching, should you stick with Sawbuck for the purchase? It’s at least worth getting a referral to one of its participating agents. Interview the agent and ask for references before you commit to working with him.

When I’ve tested other Web sites, I have all too often been referred to an inexperienced agent who knows nothing about the specific neighborhoods in which I’m interested.

Wolcott said the company plans to refer buyers only to screened real estate agents who have significant experience working with buyers. I was able to speak with two longtime, top-selling agents, one in Virginia and one in the District, who confirmed that they are working with Sawbuck, although both asked not to be named for fear of undermining their traditional brokerage business.

We can hope agents will take the paper bags off their heads once the Web site becomes more established.

In exchange for referring buyers to agents, Sawbuck earns a referral fee of about 30 percent of that agent’s share of the commission. Wolcott said the company uses part of that fee to buy down the buyer’s mortgage interest rate with its participating lender. That lender also agrees not to charge prepaid interest — in other words, points — or other fees related to the mortgage, not even for the appraisal or credit report.

Like the incognito real estate agents, that lender doesn’t want to publicize its involvement with Sawbuck so other customers don’t push for similar discounts.

The title company doing business with Sawbuck, District-based Federal Title & Escrow, will waive fees amounting to about $300 for Sawbuck customers. Title companies earn most of their income from hefty commissions on the title insurance they sell. For example, Todd Ewing, president of Federal Title, said his company retains 85 percent of the premium as its commission. That’s how a title company can afford to discount or eliminate its other fees.

If you use a Sawbuck real estate agent, you are not required to also use its mortgage or title partner. But to get the discounts, you must use the Sawbuck agent.

I hope the Sawbuck system develops as promised. So far it looks like a good, low-risk deal that puts more power in the mouse-clicking hands of buyers. At a minimum, it’s already a great search tool.

(Bloomberg) — The number of Americans signing contracts to buy previously owned homes fell more than forecast in November, signaling further deterioration in housing. The National Association of Realtors’ index of pending home sales decreased 2.6 percent to 87.6, following a 3.7 percent gain in October that was larger than previously estimated, the group said today in Washington.

The figures underscore Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson’s forecast today that the U.S. housing recession will continue, posing the biggest risk to economic expansion. Economists said more stringent lending practices after the collapse in subprime lending and prospects that home prices will keep falling are deterring buyers.

“There is no evidence it is bottoming,” Paulson said today about the housing market. He added that a plan designed to stem a wave of foreclosures may need to be expanded beyond subprime homeowners.

Economists forecast the index of signed contracts for existing homes would fall 0.7 percent following a previously reported 0.6 percent October increase, according to the median of 33 projections in a Bloomberg News survey. Estimates ranged from a drop of 3 percent to a 0.3 percent increase.

Compared with a year earlier, the index was down 19 percent.

`Further to Fall’

“Inventories are still high, and home prices have further to fall in order to lift affordability,” said Justin Smirk, senior economist at Westpac Banking Corp. in London. “There’s more bad news to come in housing before it gets better.” Westpac forecast pending sales would drop 2.5 percent.

The housing slump is likely to last well into 2008, hurting economic growth and prompting Federal Reserve policy makers to lower interest rates, analysts said.

Stocks extended gains following the report, led by miners and energy products as the price of oil rebounded. Treasury securities fell as the gain in stocks reduced demand for the relative safety of U.S. government debt. The benchmark 10-year note yielded 3.88 percent at 10:33 a.m. in New York, up from 3.83 percent late yesterday.

Today’s report showed pending resales fell in three of four regions. Purchases decreased 13 percent in the Northeast, 4.1 percent in the Midwest and 2.1 percent in the West. Sales rose 2.3 percent in the South.

The bigger gain in October than previously estimated suggested the market may be stabilizing, according to Lawrence Yun, the group’s chief economist.

`Uncertain’ Outlook

“Although there could be some minor slippage in the first quarter, existing home sales should hold in a narrow range before trending up,” Yun said in a statement. “The exact timing and the strength of a home-sales recovery is a bit uncertain.”

Paulson, speaking during a visit to New York on CNBC television, said evidence shows the housing decline “has further to run.”

The Treasury chief indicated the outlook may prompt an expansion of the plan Bush administration officials brokered with mortgage lenders last month. The initiative was designed to make it easier to negotiate affordable loans and freeze some adjustable-rate mortgages at current rates.

“One thing we will consider is maybe expanding this beyond subprime borrowers to other borrowers,” Paulson said.

Unsold Homes

There was a 10.3 months’ supply of previously owned homes on the market in November at the current sales pace, compared with an average 6.5 months in 2006 and 4.5 months a year earlier.

That excess is one reason property values are dropping. Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas fell in October by the most in at least six years, based on the S&P/Case-Shiller home- price index. The decrease, reported last month, was the biggest since the group started keeping year-over-year records in 2001.

Record foreclosures are adding to the supply of unsold homes and will weigh further on prices this year, economists said.

“We’ll probably see more weakness in existing home sales given that inventories are so high,” said James O’Sullivan, a senior economist at UBS Securities LLC in Stamford, Connecticut. “Prices may keep dropping for a while.”

Tougher lending rules are adding to market woes. A third of planned home sales were canceled or delayed in September, October and November because of loan problems, according to the results of a survey of 2,416 real-estate agents issued yesterday.

The Realtors association estimates 5.7 million homes will be sold in 2008, little changed from an estimated 5.65 million last year. Purchases of new homes will fall to 669,000 from 773,000.

KB Home

KB Home, the fifth-largest U.S. homebuilder, today reported a fourth-quarter loss as tumbling demand for new homes forced the company to write down land values. Los Angeles-based KB Home operates in 13 states, including California, Florida, Nevada and Arizona.

A report last week showed the labor market weakened in December, fueling concern the real-estate slump is spilling over to the rest of the economy.

The jump in the unemployment rate caused some economists to raise the odds of recession. Harvard University economist Martin Feldstein, member of the group that dates U.S. economic cycles, said the chance of recession had risen to more than 50 percent.

Central bankers said economic growth would probably be “somewhat more sluggish” than their previous estimate, according to minutes of the Dec. 11 Federal Open Market Committee meeting released last week. Policy makers cited housing and weaker consumer spending.

Fed’s Plosser

While traders anticipate the Fed will lower its benchmark rate by at least a quarter point this month, Philadelphia Fed Bank President Charles Plosser said he hasn’t made up his mind yet.

“A substantially weaker outlook than expected, particularly if that weakness is projected to be more prolonged than anticipated, may require further adjustments to policy,” Plosser said in a speech in Gladwyne, Pennsylvania.

The real-estate agents’ group began reporting pending home resales in March 2005 and has supplied historical data back to February 2001. The gauge is considered a leading indicator because it tracks contract signings. The group’s existing-home purchases report tracks closings, which typically occur a month or two later.

WASHINGTON (Thomson Financial) - Sales of new homes in the US fell dramatically in November as the lack of mortgage availability and rising consumer pessimism led to the worst rate in more than twelve years.

The Commerce Department today reported that last month’s new home sales were down 9 pct to a seasonally-adjusted annual rate of 647,000 units, the lowest sales rate since 621,000 in April 1995.

Forecasters had expected a far less severe slowdown, to about 720,000 units.

‘This was obviously a stunningly weak report, particularly given the aggressive price-cutting that homebuilders have been implementing in order to try to reduce inventory,’ said MFR economist Joshua Shapiro.

The median price of a new home fell 0.4 pct from last November to 239,100 usd, although the median was actually up 4.2 pct from October. The median price figures can be shifted, however, by the shifting mix of homes — higher- or lower-priced — sold in any given month.

‘It appears quite clear at this juncture,’ said Joseph Brusuelas of IDEAglobal, ‘that the consumer has reached a psychological point where expectations of future price declines have become entrenched. We consider this to be eminently rational behaviour on the part of potential homeowners and until the new homes market observes a decline in the median price of homes and falling rates, there will be little incentive to step up purchasing activity.’

Builders managed to cut 1.8 pct off their inventory of new homes on the market, to 505,000 units. But at the slower sales rate that raised the inventory overhang to 9.3 months supply, a 5.7 pct increase.

Sales estimates for October, September and August were cut by a total of 50,000. The Commerce Department has a long-running pattern of downward revisions to the first and even second reports of each month’s sales.

Economists say it is because of methodological problems in the survey, which counts sale contract signings that do not always materialize later into actual sales. They expect the November report to follow the same pattern of downward revisions.

Sales in the US Midwest fell 27.6 pct last month. Northeast sales were off 19.3 pct and sales in the South were down 6.4 pct. Only the West showed an increase, with sales up 4.0 pct.

For the year, sales in all regions are down 34.4 pct.