The Rocklin housing market, a subsidiary of the Sacramento-area real estate market, showed strong signs of recovery despite a slight decline in home sales. According to a June 10, 2010 article from the Sacramento Business Journal, “Foreclosure filings in the Sacramento region, including notice of default, trustee sales notices and repossessions by banks, were down 12.53 percent in May compared with the same period one year ago, real estate information firm RealtyTrac reported Thursday.” The piece, composed by Michael Shaw, went on to note that “According to the report, 1,488 homes in the four-county region became bank owned through foreclosure sales during the month, the company said. The trend in Sacramento mirrors that in California, where foreclosure filings were down 22 percent on a year-over-year basis. The state still accounted for 22 percent of the nation’s foreclosure filings.”

The average sales price of a Rocklin real estate climbed from near-record lows along with the rest of the Sacramento area. According to a May 24, 2010 article from the Sacramento Business Journal, “Sacramento-area home prices are climbing off the mat, increasing 12.4 percent from the bottom reached in April 2009, according to a report released Monday.” The piece, written by Ron Trujillo, went on to state that “The four-county region – arguably one of the hardest hit, with an abundance of foreclosures and 35 percent-plus home prices declines – had a median-home price of $188,100 in April, compared to the so-called ‘trough’ price of $167,340 a year ago, according to the California Association of Realtors…Sacramento County was the only county in the region that enjoyed a price increase compared to a year ago.”

The Rocklin housing market did suffer from a slight decline in home sales, possibly as a result of the higher prices. According to a May 20, 2010 article in the Sacramento Business Journal, “Home sales in the four-county Sacramento region were slightly lower in April than the same month last year, according to figures released Thursday from real estate information company MDA DataQuick.” The piece, written by Michael Shaw, noted that “There were 2,873 home sales of all types, including new homes, and existing homes, and existing homes and condos, in April compared with 3,036 sales a year ago, the company reported.”

The Savannah real estate market remains in a dismal state, with home sales and foreclosures both suggesting continued troubles for the state of Georgia and the city of Savannah. According to an April 8, 2010 article in the Times-Herald, “Foreclosure advertisements in the Times-Herald are up 18.6 percent over the same month last year, with 216 scheduled for listing in this Thursday’s legal advertisement section.” New York Times columnist Paul Krugman confronted the financial crisis facing Georgia in an April 11, 2010 article, stating that “To appreciate Georgia’ specialness, you need to realize that the housing bubble was a geographically uneven affair. Basically, prices rose sharply only where zoning restrictions and other factors limited the construction of new houses.”

One central problem confronting Savannah real estate, foreclosures, was reported in an April 7, 2010 article in the Atlanta Business Chronicle. This piece found that “Foreclosure rates and mortgage delinquency rates continued to grow in February in metro Atlanta and Georgia, according to data Wednesday from FirstAmerican CoreLogic. The Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Marietta region had a foreclosure rate of 2.79 percent in February, compared with 1.61 percent in February 2009. The 90-plus day delinquency rate for the area was 11.12 percent, compared with 6.79 percent in February 2009.” The piece continued to note that “Georgia’s foreclosure rate in February was 2.45 percent, compared with 1.41 percent in February 2009. The state’s 90-plus day delinquency rate was 9.73 percent, versus 5.99 percent in February 2009.”

Savannah homes for sale have also been facing extremely low rates of new home sales, according to a March 24, 2010 article in WSAV News. This piece found that “As the housing market struggles to recover from the recession, the government released a report Wednesday showing sales of new homes fell to record low levels last month.” The article, written by Tuquyen Mach, continued to state that “The report on February home sales was not what most folks wanted to hear but what many expected. Sales of new homes last month fell to the lowest level since record-keeping started about 50 years ago.”

The market for real estate in Marin County, California, is typical of the larger U.S. housing market. Though prices have fallen steeply from their peaks around 2006 and 2007, the market seems to be stabilizing and it has been helped by the government’s stimulus program offering up to $8,000 in tax credits to qualified home buyers, which has spurred activity in the area in recent months especially.

In November, sales of single-family homes in Marin County surged, up by nearly 77% when compared with sales activity at the same time last year. Despite a strong showing this month, however, year-to-date, sales of homes for sale in Marin County is off by 0.2%. December statistics will determine whether 2009 was a better or worse year for the market than 2008.

Marin County real estate saw a decently sized increase in its home prices during October 2009. According to the California Association of Realtors‘ data, in October, the median price for homes sold was $648,000, up 8% from October 2008, when it was just at $599,750.  In November, however, the median price was down 7.1% from October’s figures, down 5.7%. The November figures were 14.8% lower than November 2008 figures.

According to The Real Estate Report, a licensed California broker run by CPA Ron Parks, the median price for a single-family home in November in Marin County was just $702,000, compared with $755,880 in October of this year and $824,000 in November of last year. The market saw 161 sales in November, down from 171 in October but up decidedly from last November’s 91 sales. Days on the market were down in November, to 92 from 96 in October, but those figures are up from November 2008, when the average number of days on the market was 88.