Report: Sacramento Home Prices Nearing Decade High

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — The old real estate adage is "location, location, location!" But for Sarah, who moved into the Del Paso Heights neighborhood in in 2011, it was all about price.

"It was an actual chance for us to buy a home," says Sara, who didn't want to give last name. She bought her house for $140,000. According to new estimates, it should be valued at much more than that now.

A lot has changed in her neighborhood. Just blocks away, another house is for sale on Fell Street. It went on the market this week. The buyer got three offers. It already sold for $180,000.

By many accounts, the Sacramento area housing market has been red hot.

A new report put out by real estate tracker Core Logic suggests that Sacramento County homes are selling at their highest prices in almost a decade.

In Sacramento in particular, some neighborhoods are seeing some home prices double, such as in Del Paso Heights.

"As prices are rising, buyers are looking around and there is a sense of 'I better buy before I can't afford the market,'" explained Ryan Lundquist, who heads Lundquist Appraisal Company based out of Carmichael.

Lundquist crunches numbers to help determine the market value of Sacramento-area homes. He says he is seeing upward pressure on prices, especially on lower priced homes, home in the $100,000 to $200,000 range – the perfect price for many first time home buyers.

Lundquist explains that's because areas like Del Paso Heights don't offer a lot in terms of inventory. Its draw is that it is affordable. And as buyers compete for what some would describe as "entry-level" homes the neighborhood offers, prices have sky rocketed.

"In 2012, houses were selling at about $125,000 at the most. Now that number is $250,000 for this size of house," said Lundquist, speaking of homes that range from 1,000 to 1,500 square feet in size.

Yet unlike other neighborhoods, Del Paso Heights may be seeing property prices go up, but there is no other real change or improvements to the area. Lundquist says part of the reason is these buyers aren't investors, who come and remodel homes to flip, or young families who move in seeking to change the face of the neighborhood.

"There is less of the hipster vibe where you have these young people moving in, who want to be part of that change," said Lundquist.

Residents like Sarah say it's great that her property value has gone up, but she is concerned that more people are getting priced out of Sacramento, like she almost once was.

"I worry about people, like me, who could barely afford to get into this house when it was at its lowest (price)," said Sarah.