The Granite Bay real estate market, part of the hard-hit Sacramento area housing market, is seeing a housing situation that is substantially different than the rest of the United States. Unlike many other parts of the country, which saw a series of temporary improvements followed by the threat of a double-dip recession, the Granite Bay area is showing a more sustained recovery. According to a July 16, 2010 report from the Sacramento Bee, “The sales surge continues. Strong investor activity and price cutting in higher-end neighborhoods drove Sacramento-region home sales in June to new 20-month highs, a report said Thursday. Buyers received keys to 3,922 new and existing houses across the region, said researcher MDA DataQuick. Statistics showed especially strong gains from June 2009 in pricier Amador, El Dorado, Nevada and Placer counties…June's sales numbers were the highest since October 2008. They beat May's 3,716 sales in Amador, El Dorado, Nevada, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties. Median prices, too, continued a slow ascent. Sacramento County posted a $185,000 median price in June – 5.7 percent above June 2009. The rising prices reflect fewer bank repo sales and more move-up houses in the market mix. Investors played a leading role in June, especially in Sacramento County. They bought about one in four houses sold…Sacramento-area home sales, aided by $8,000 federal tax credits for first-time buyers, began to surge in March and have stayed strong. While sales remain below historical spring averages, the area's performance matches the state in outpacing the nation, said Scott Anderson, senior economist with Wells Fargo Bank.”
Despite remaining one of the highest in the nation, the foreclosure rate amongst Granite Bay homes for sale declined substantially in the most recent tracking period. According to a July 15, 2010 report from the Sacramento Business Journal, “Foreclosures in the Sacramento region dropped in the first half by 12.4 percent compared with the previous six months, online foreclosure tracker RealtyTrac reported Thursday after including newly released information for June. There were 27,275 households in the region during the first six months that received a foreclosure notice of some type, from a notice of default to a trustee sale notice to a bank repossession. That’s down from 31,129 households in the previous six months, and 29,324 in the same period of last year.”