Housing market cools off

The Sacramento Bee reports:

The capital region's housing market swung more toward homebuyers' favor again in September, when the number of existing homes sold dropped 15 percent and the number on the market more than doubled from a year ago.

The sales decline in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado and Yolo counties combined was the sharpest for any month since November 2001, when year-over-year sales fell 20 percent in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks.

Still, the 3,274 existing homes that sold in the capital region in September ranked as the third-highest ever for that month, said DataQuick Information Systems.

Median sale prices rose 15 percent to 22 percent from one year ago: $365,000 in Sacramento County, $494,500 in Placer County, $475,000 in El Dorado County and $431,000 in Yolo County.

The El Dorado and Yolo medians were records, while Sacramento's dipped from a record $372,000 in August and Placer's also slipped from a record $502,000 in August.

Check out the table at the bottom of the article.A must anyone who owns California real estate.