Real Estate

Shingle Springs residents are gearing up for a showdown over a proposed 1,000-home mega development off Mother Lode Drive.

Supervisors changed Sacramento County's overall housing policy Tuesday, laying the groundwork to possibly ease low-income housing requirements on developers.

As the spring homebuying season gets under way, bidding wars are breaking out on Sacramento's tree-lined streets.

Twenty new east Sacramento apartments, featuring 19th-century Craftsman-style architecture and 21st-century amenities, were unveiled Thursday by owner Mercy General Hospital.

Out of 30 major metropolitan areas, Sacramento experienced the fifth highest housing-price gains in the nation in February compared with the same month a year before, Zillow said Thursday.

Home prices are rising across the region, and many of those residents are regaining equity in their homes.

The median sales price of existing, single-family homes in Sacramento County climbed sharply in February compared with the same month in 2012, the California Association of Realtors said.

The nine buildings aren't much to look at right now. The stately facades are faded, and so is any connection to the block's historic past. This is the 700 block of K Street. And for the first time in years, the empty spaces here are poised to come alive.

Homebuyers are increasingly willing to spend more on houses – if only they can find one to buy.

Foreclosure activity – default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions – in California continued to plunge dramatically in February, according to a report released today by Irvine-based RealtyTrac.

It feels a lot like a housing boom in Sacramento, with median home prices jumping by thousands of dollars each month.

Their homes are gone, their credit is shot and their rent is often more expensive than a mortgage payment.

Steve and Tasha McLaughlin have had two kids since they bought their two-bedroom "Brady Bunch"-style house in South Natomas seven years ago. They need more room, but they can't move: The house they bought for $256,000 is worth just $90,000, and an attempt to sell it failed.

As more Sacramento homes slip into foreclosure, scores of house "flippers" have swooped in to buy properties at rock-bottom prices and sell them for quick profits.

View a chart of home sales in the Sacramento area.

Data for resale single-family detached homes that closed escrow.

Home sales charts.