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Stale real estate headlines & buyers flocking to El Dorado County

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Real estate headlines can get stale quickly, so we have to be really aware of what we’re saying. Is it still even true? Here’s an example of what I mean.

Headlines in recent years: Rising fire insurance rates in California are causing buyers to pull back from more rural areas.

New stats that change the narrative: In El Dorado County this past year we actually saw a larger increase of sales volume WITHIN areas that have higher fire insurance. Take a look at this visual. Typically El Dorado Hills & Cameron Park don’t have fire insurance issues whereas the rest of El Dorado County does (generally speaking). In short, volume in “fire areas” grew more than areas without issues.

Off the charts: Here is a visual to show how off the charts sales volume has been in El Dorado County. There was an initial COVID dip early in the year and then a massive increase WAY beyond normal.

QUICK TAKEAWAYS:

1) The market is always changing, so we need to be sure our narrative is informed by actual data instead of headlines from last year.

2) Uncertainty about fire insurance rates clearly didn’t hold back buyers this year in El Dorado County. Part of this could stem from rates regulating and buyers getting used to higher rates, but there is no mistaking El Dorado County had enormous pandemic migration. Thus incoming buyers simply cared way more about having land and space than fire insurance rates.

3) I’ve only run stats for El Dorado County, so I’d be careful about saying fire insurance is no biggie throughout California. Moreover, this trend could change in coming years. It’s actually very difficult to parse fire stats for Placer County. If anyone has ideas for how to do that I’m open ears. I just haven’t found a way yet.

VIDEO MARKET UPDATE:

Yesterday I did a big market update at Joel Wright’s Residential Roundup event. This is 38 minutes. Enjoy if you wish or skip to the last slide with closing thoughts to focus business in 2021. Watch below (or here).

PRESENTATION TODAY: I’m speaking at a Placer County Women’s Council of Realtors event from 10-11:30am. I’ll have one hour to unpack the market and I have some fresh Placer and El Dorado stats too. Sign up here.

Thanks for being here.

Questions: What are you seeing in El Dorado County or other areas? What are you hearing about fire insurance? I’d love to hear your take.

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My new sewer line adds huge value, right?

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A new sewer line. That’s what 2020 gave my family as a parting gift before the year closed. Yep, just before Christmas we had to replace our entire line at a whopping $13,688. I know that sounds crazy expensive, but we had four separate bids and went with the most reasonable one. In part it was so pricey because we had one hundred feet of line under eighty feet of concrete. 

The good news is my house is worth $13,688 more now, right?

THE SHORT ANSWER: No.

THE LONGER ANSWER: Buyers expect things like sewer lines to be in working order, so they aren’t prone to pay a premium for a new one. Would some buyers pay a little something extra? Maybe. But I’m not holding my breath for much of a value add because buyers get more excited and swayed by the bling in a house rather than boring adult stuff like sewer pipes. After all, we don’t hear buyers say stuff like, “I want an open concept kitchen, hardwood flooring throughout, but I’m walking if the sewer line isn’t new.”

IF IT’S BROKEN: But if a sewer line is broken, that’s where it becomes more of a value issue since a traditional loan shouldn’t be able to fund without a functioning sewer line. Moreover, in most markets buyers would likely deduct for the expense and inconvenience of having to replace a line. 

CLOSING ADVICE: Sellers, don’t expect buyers to pay dollar for dollar for every repair you do. Seriously, buyers expect certain things to be present and working. This is why they’re not going to look at my house and say, “Whoa, there’s a new sewer line? Let’s offer $13,688 more.” This is just how it works. And frankly if we were the buyers there’s no way we’d be paying cost either, right?

Anyway, here’s to indoor plumbing in 2021.

Thanks for being here.

Market update at SAR: I’m doing a big market update at SAR on January 21st from 10-11:00am. Sign up here.

Questions: Have you done any similar repairs recently? Have you ever seen a sewer line increase value? I’d love to hear your take.

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The housing market nobody predicted

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Nobody predicted 2020. Who would’ve thought during a pandemic we’d see such an explosive year in real estate? The expectation was that the market would start to tank, but we saw the exact opposite. It’s not just Sacramento either because many areas of the country experienced this same dynamic. Anyway, enjoy some brand new visuals if you wish. Thanks for being here.

THE SHORT VERSION:

Here is a highlight reel to talk through some of the bigger themes this year. In short, the stats are stunning.

What stands out to you?

THE LONGER VERSION (organized by county):

1) Sacramento Region
2) Sacramento County
3) Placer County
4) El Dorado County
5) Yolo County
6) Bonus visuals

I welcome you to share some of these images on your social or in a newsletter. Please use this stuff. In case it helps, here are 5 ways to share my content (not copy verbatim). Thanks.

1) SACRAMENTO REGION:

 

2) SACRAMENTO COUNTY:

3) PLACER COUNTY:

4) EL DORADO COUNTY:

5) YOLO COUNTY:

6) BONUS VISUALS:

Here are some extra regional graphs to show how various counties are moving together.

 

Other visuals: Not that you needed more, but check out my social media in coming days and weeks for extra visuals. I am posting daily stuff on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Oh, and sometimes Instagram.

Thanks for being here.

Questions: What stands out to you most about 2020 real estate? Any stories to share? I’d love to hear your take.

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Real estate drama (and a market update)

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I’m not into The Bachelorette or The Real Housewives. It’s just not my thing. But I love me some real estate drama. I’m not talking about HGTV, but the housing market. I know that elevates my nerd status, but I’m hyper focused on fresh stats, ups and downs, and things that make the market move.

(scroll down for a big market update instead)

AN EXCEL FILE FOR CHRISTMAS? Today I want to share some new neighborhood visuals and I’d like to give you an Excel template so you can quickly make these images for neighborhoods in your area. Does that interest you? If I have consensus I’ll post a template with instructions next week.

DRAMA IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD: What can you tell me about this neighborhood (East Sac)? What stands out to you about the relationship between price and square footage, lot size, and bedroom count? I made these images in a couple of minutes with the template I mentioned.

What do you think? Do you like any of these images? Any ideas for something else to show in a quick template like this? Let me know.

UNCLE RYAN’S LAME GIFT: I know it’s odd to wrap an Excel file for Christmas, but let me know if this would be relevant. You can use it for studying neighborhoods, explaining the market to clients, or for newsletters / social media. If there’s enough interest I’ll make a video tutorial. You don’t need to be an Excel guru either. This is something anyone can do with a little effort.

FOX 40 INTERVIEW: By the way, I did a 15-minute live segment last week on Fox 40. We talked about Sacramento being poised to have the strongest market in the country next year according to Realtor.com. Watch here if you wish.

Thanks so much for being here.

Any thoughts?

———————- (skim or digest slowly) ———————–

BIG MARKET UPDATE

For those interested, here’s a big Sacramento market update:

MARKET SUMMARY: In short, we’ve been seeing the drama of a spring real estate season during the fall months. The housing market has been on steroids and the slower fall season we normally have just didn’t happen. Well, technically we are seeing some stats start to slow down as prices have gone sideways lately and we’re seeing fewer sales like we normally do in November and December. But here’s the thing. The “slower” stats are still so elevated from where they should be that it just doesn’t feel slow at all.

HIGHLIGHT REEL:

  • Half of all sales sold in seven days or fewer last month
  • For six months in a row sales volume has outpaced last year
  • We only have three weeks of supply (that’s crazy low)
  • We have the lowest monthly inventory in 15-20 years (at least)
  • Buyers made twice as many offers last month compared to last year
  • The number of listings has been chopped in half
  • Price metrics are up about 12-14% from last year
  • November 2020 regional volume is up 25% from November 2019
  • 63% of all sales had multiple offers last month
  • There were 53.6% more multiple offers compared to last year
  • Each sale last month had an average of 3.22 offers
  • Sales volume is up about 2% over the past 12 months
  • There were 106% more million dollar sales from July to November

WAY TOO MANY VISUALS:

You are welcome to use these in newsletters and social media with proper attribution. Scroll quickly or digest slowly.

SACRAMENTO REGION:

  

 

 

SACRAMENTO COUNTY:

PLACER COUNTY:

EL DORADO COUNTY:

Other visuals: I have lots of other graphs. Check out my social media in coming days and weeks. I am posting daily stuff on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Oh, and sometimes Instagram.

Thanks for being here.

Questions: What are you seeing in the market right now? Any stories to share? Are you interested in my Excel template? I’d love to hear your take.

If you liked this post, subscribe by email (or RSS). Thanks for being here.