The Folsom housing market, situated north of Sacramento in California’s Central Valley, began to show signs of improvement, including lower rates of foreclosure. Despite a few remaining high profile cases, fewer Folsom homes for sale were in the foreclosure process, a possible indication that the market is beginning to stabilize. According to a July 1, 2010 report from the Sacramento Business Journal, “Foreclosure sales in Sacramento County fell 50 percent in the first three months of the year, compared with the same quarter in 2009, online foreclosure tracker ReatlyTrac reported Thursday. Foreclosure sales, which occur when a bank takes possession of a home following non-payment of a mortgage, also decreased substantially on a year-over-year basis for Placer, Yolo and El Dorado counties. It’s the first quarterly report for RealtyTrac, which reports monthly figures on foreclosures for most of the country. The average foreclosure sale price in Sacramento County was $171,900 in the first quarter. Foreclosure sale prices elsewhere in the region ranged from $214,800 in Yolo County to $305,000 in El Dorado County.” It is unclear whether this shift in the market is the result of an improving economy or simply a by-product of the expiring federal tax credit. It is also possible that banks and lenders are becoming more flexible in dealing with delinquent properties in order to avoid the headache of a foreclosure.
Despite the overall decrease in foreclosures in the Folsom real estate market, one of the largest parcels of commercial property in the region seems to be headed for a bank sale. According to a June 16, 2010 article from the Sacramento Bee, “The future of the long-dormant downtown Sacramento railyard took a dramatic turn Tuesday. The question: Is it a turn for the worse, or perhaps the better? A Chicago-area real estate investor started foreclosure proceedings on the railyard after property owner Thomas Enterprises failed to pay off $187 million worth of loans. The move could signal the end here for financially troubled Thomas Enterprises and usher in the massive Inland American Real Estate Trust as new steward of the 240-acre railyard, the city's top redevelopment project. An analyst who follows Inland called the company substantial and experienced. Thomas Enterprises of Atlanta, which bought the railyard from Union Pacific in 2006 after lengthy negotiations, has been vexed by financial setbacks nationally, including several foreclosures and project stoppages.”