Out & About

House-go-round

I must admit, I didn’t have much use for the home sales listings that run in this Everybody’s Business section until we started looking to buy a house. Suddenly, those listings were the most interesting tool in town. I’d plug an address into Google and see that the house someone wants $150,000 for today sold for $92,000 just six months prior. Given the market, this exercise is fairly irrelevant—and depressing. It’s sort of like prying up the price tag of something you bought at the store only to find it was on sale a couple of weeks ago.

It seemed more relevant when the news came out that Chico’s home prices had shot up 16 percent in one year. But then I read something in a real estate book saying you need to compare actual houses to one another—apples to apples—rather than look at the median. How can we do that? With the Chico News & Review’s convenient housing listings, of course. Here are some comparisons. And, as always, note that these prices are based on the stated documentary transfer tax of the parcel and may not reflect the actual sale price of the home. I’ve rounded off the dates. Some make no logical sense. May contain peanuts.

Address—When sold—Amount—Previously sold—Amount

1240 Broadway—Mar. 2003—$158,000—July 2001—$149,000

1414 Almond St.—Mar. 2003—$81,000—Aug. 2002—$60,000

2234 Floral Ave.—Mar. 2003—$153,000—Dec. 2002—$101,000

1580 Hobart St.—Feb. 2003—$180,000—June 2002—$115,000

14 Wrangler Court—Feb. 2003—$129,000—Oct. 2001—$101,000

1369 East Ave.—Feb. 2003—$250,000—July 2002—$211,000

14057 Greenberry—Jan. 2003—$370,000—Sept. 2001—$345,000

2 Marydith Lane—Jan. 2003—$229,000—April 2001—$145,500

836 Sheridan Ave.—Jan. 2003—$215,000—May 2002—$130,000

2165 La Rocco Drive—Jan. 2003—$140,000—Feb. 2001—$145,000

2166 Huntington Drive—Jan. 2003—$135,000—Feb. 2001—$155,000

1508 Lassen Ave.—Jan. 2003—$178,000—Nov. 2002—$166,500

1820 Mulberry St.—Jan. 2003—$110,000—July 2002—$90,000

1819 Magnolia—Jan. 2003—$292,000—-June 2002—$215,000

2168 Laurel St.—Jan. 2003—$122,000—June 2002—$88,000