Sacramento Blogs

Sacramento home sales declined 10 percent in July from June and are down 23.7 percent from a year ago, according to the California Association of Realtors.

The decline in sales was driven by both tightened mortgage underwriting standards since the beginning of this year and the averse psychological impact of news and information in the Sacramento Bee regarding increases in real estate foreclosures and the subprime loan situation.

The average price of a Sacramento home sold during July was $346,220, only 1.5 percent less than in June and but 8.4 percent less than a year ago.

Southwest Airlines has opened a terminal in San Francisco with  daily, nonstop flights to Chicago Midway, San Diego and Las Vegas.  Southwest said it will launch a new San Francisco to Los Angeles route beginning in November.

Southwest previously flew out of the San Francisco International Airport from 1982 to 2001, but quit because of high airport costs and inefficiencies.

A number of River City Bank customers have complained about the level of customer service received from River City Bank, espicially at the Natomas office. Complaints range from inept service from their private banker to excessive minor service fees in the online banking department.

The complaints come from long time customers of the bank.

Mortgage lender Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. announced it is not taking any new real estate loans and it is closing “substantially all” of its 60 lending offices and five support locations by early September.

Accredited has retail mortgage branch offices in Sacramento, Roseville and Folsom, and it has a centralized retail office in Sacramento.

The mortgage company said five of its ten wholesale divisions will be closed by September 5. There will also be staff reductions at the remaining five mortage offices. The wholesale mortgage work force will be cut by 490 positions, leaving only 340 employees.

The Falls at Arden, a 272-unit apartment complex at 2345 Northrop Avenue, has been sold for $29.8 million.

The Sacramento apartment complex includes nine two story buildings, a pool, fitness center and clubhouse.

Embarcadero Capital bought the property from 2345 Northrop LLC, according to Madison Partners, which facilitated the sale.

Foreclosure filing in Greater Sacramento fell in July from June.

There were 4,009 foreclosure filings in the Sacramento metropolitan area in July. That number dropped slightly from 4,127 filings in June. The dip occurred mostly in Sacramento County, which saw 3,066 filings in July compared to 3,455 filings in June. Placer County had 698 filings, an increase from 512 in June. El Dorado County foreclosure filings rose to 245 in July, from 160 the month before.

See also Sacramento Foreclosures and Sacramento Real Estate

CalTrans will open a new auxiliary lane on eastbound Interstate 80 between the Auburn Boulevard  and Douglas Boulevard interchanges, a heavily traveled  stretch of freeway.

The new auxiliary lane will allow drivers to enter I-80 and drive in that lane or merge into other lanes.  It is the first phase of a $210 million project to ease congestion on I-80.

The next phase will add carpool lanes on eastbound and westbound I-80, between the Sacramento Placer county line and Eureka Road. The second phase should be completed in 2008.

The third phase will add a westbound auxiliary lane from Auburn to DouglasCaltrans,  Placer County, the city of Roseville, and the Placer County Transportation Planning Agency are paying for the project.

El Dorado County and the Roseville Redevelopment Agency each received $1.5 million from the California Housing Finance Agency to help create more affordable housing for low income residents.

El Dorado County will use its grant money for a revolving loan program for two multifamily projects.

The Roseville Redevelopment Agency’s funds are for a 156 unit multifamily rental complex in the Fiddyment Ranch community. The state money will be used with other sources of funding for the project.

The new owner of the Red Lion Hotel Sacramento is beginning a two year, $55 million remodeling project to upgrade the hotel into a luxury destination with a neighboring spa.

The 376 room hotel was built in 1954 and is spread over 20 acres. The remodel will convert the hotel to 270 high end rooms. The restaurant, lounge and banquet areas will be upgraded also.

There will also be a new three story commercial building next door with a mix of spas, health clubs, beauty salons and cosmetic surgery practices.

The Red Lion Hotel Sacramento is at 1401 Arden Way, next to Arden Fair Mall. It will remain open during the remodeling.

The McClatchy Co.  — publisher of the Sacramento Bee — reported an 8.6 percent drop in overall revenue in July, as classified and national advertising plummeted for the newspaper publisher.

The Sacramento company, publisher of 31 daily newspapers, said its advertising dropped 9.4 percent to $169.4 million, from $186.9 million a year ago. The local company’s stock shares followed, dropping 3.7 percent in trading Monday and closing just two pennies from its 52 week low.

A dramatic decline in automotive and real estate advertising has pounded the classified revenue category, perhaps because of the Bee’s negative outlook on the local Sacramnto economy and housing market.

Many local businesses have reduced their advertising expeditures in the Sacramento Bee.  Lyon Real Estate recently announced it was dramatically reducing its advertising in the Sacramento Bee in favor of more internet advertising.