Although quite far from its peak, the Auburn real estate market is stronger than it has been for several years. According to a June 18, 2010 article from the Sacramento Bee, “More than 3,700 Sacramento-area buyers claimed keys to new and existing houses in May, the strongest sales month in four years, a La Jolla researcher reported Thursday. Sales prices also continued to drift upward. Sacramento scored a fifth straight month in which prices beat the same time last year, La Jolla-based MDA DataQuick reported. Sacramento County's median price for existing homes and new houses combined is $182,000 – 4 percent higher than in May 2009. Median is that point where half sell for more and half for less. The latest numbers show that a spring homebuying surge that started in March has strengthened in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. Altogether, 3,716 homes changed hands in the region. About 9 percent were new houses, DataQuick reported.”
The article by Jim Wasserman continued to note that the spike in the number of purchased Auburn homes for sale might be the result of the federal tax credit. He noted that “The numbers reveal a sizable number of first-time buyers who started sales contracts before April 30 to collect a federal tax credit of $8,000. Many are also staking claim to California's first-time buyer tax credit of up to $10,000. Those became available May 1. More than 15,000 first-time California buyers have applied for the state tax credit, which is now 80 percent claimed, according to the state Franchise Tax Board. In addition to the tax credit, buyers are attracted by interest rates that have remained below 5 percent for six weeks. Senior loan consultant Brent Wilson, of Comstock Mortgage in Sacramento, said most home loans are going to ‘first-time homebuyers and investors in that more moderate price range.’ According to DataQuick, investors accounted for 25.4 percent of Sacramento County sales. Buyers paying cash constituted 31 percent of sales.”
The number of foreclosures in the Auburn housing market also dropped, according to a June 15, 2010 article from the Sacramento Business Journal which said that “Foreclosure activity dropped last month in California, despite an increasing number of homeowners who are not paying their mortgages, ForeclosureRadar announced Tuesday.”