A census-designated place in Placer County, California, near the northern Pacific Coast, Granite Bay, California, is a residential suburban community in the Sacramento region. The town is a rather wealthy suburb, with median household income estimated in 2007 to be more than $115,000 in 2007, and higher real estate prices to match. The Granite Bay real estate sector saw home prices rising steadily prior to the U.S. economic troubles that began in 2008 and eventually exploded into the global financial crisis, which took its toll in California, crippling the local market as well as markets across the state and country. More recently, Granite Bay seems to be solidifying its position and seeing only slight annual declines, a sign that the market is steadying.

According to Placer County Homes and Land, as of early November, there were 154 Granite Bay homes for sale, ranging in price from a low of $169,000 to a high of $5.9 million. The average listing price stood at around $1.2 million. Twenty-one of the homes listed were active short sales, meaning the homes were listed for a price lower than what the current owners still owe on it, and six homes listed were bank-owned. There were no condos listed, as this area is more residential and consists mostly of single-family homes.

The Sacramento Bee's monthly zip code sales chart showed that for the month of September, Granite Bay there were 20 homes sold, an increase on an annual basis of 25%. The median sales price for September was $508,000, off just a slight 1.5% from prices a year ago, while the highest price was one home sold at $1 million. September's price per square foot average out to $186, a 3.8% decline from September 2009 figures. September's median price is also down slightly, however, from the annual median sales price in 2009, which was $516,000.

The number of foreclosures in Granite Bay is leveling out as well, matching the trend in the greater area of Placer County, where there were 1,200 foreclosures in the third quarter of 2010, down by more than 15% from the number of foreclosures in the third quarter of 2009, according to DataQuick Information Systems statistics.

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