Well, the numbers are in for 2007, so it’s time to take a quick look back and see how Placer County did last year.   Later on this week we’ll also have a year in review article for Roseville.

On the one hand, Placer County has had its share of price erosion and rising inventory in 2007, with mortgage defaults helping to add to the supply and provide a steady flow of those most motivated of sellers — banks looking to unburden themselves of their inventory.  On the other hand, Placer County did fairly well compared to her neighbor to the Southwest, Sacramento County.  I recently finished writing my Sacramento County Real Estate 2007 Year in Review, so you can compare the details for yourself, but from time to time as we go through the Placer County numbers we’ll show how they compare to Sacramento.

In 2007, 3,732 sellers and builders successfully sold their homes through a real estate agent using Metrolist’s MLS, a drop of 12.6% in overall unit volume from the 4,272 homes sold in Placer County in 2006.  The average home sold in Placer County weighed in at 2,174 square feet, and sold for $490,539, 96% of the average list price of $511,539.  The average selling price was down 5.1% from last year overall, but since this year’s home was somewhat larger, the average sold price per square feet fell 8.5% from the 2006 average.  This still compares favorably to Sacramento County, where average sold price per square feet feel 11.7% from 2006 to 2007.  At $417,000, the median sale price in Sacramento County for 2007 was down 7.3% from 2006’s median selling price of $450,000.  However, looking at December to December, the drop was significantly higher at 14.1%.  In December, the median price was $365,000 compared to $425,000 in December of 2006.

As you might expect with prices falling more slowly, the number of foreclosures in Placer County compares favorably to Sacramento County as well.  For 2007 overall, 12.9% of sales in Placer County were bank owned, versus 20.9% for Sacramento County.  In current active inventory, short sales and bank owned properties make up 22.9% of all units in Placer County, versus 55.7% of all units for Sacramento County.  Of course, in Placer County as elsewhere, 2007 was the year of the foreclosure (As a side note, the American Dialect Society recently named subprime the word of the year).

This rise is especially marked if you look at late year figures.  In December of 2006, only 2.1% of all sales in Placer County were bank owned.  By December of 2007, that number had risen to 29%.