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flat median price

5 trends to watch in Sacramento’s flattening real estate market

September 16, 2014 By Ryan Lundquist Leave a Comment

Let’s take a wider view of real estate today. I shared by big monthly post last week about Sacramento County, but what is regional market doing when we consider multiple counties surrounding Sacramento? Let’s look at five quick trends below.

Taking a wide view of real estate - image purchased by sacramento appraisal blog

Two ways to read this post:

  1. Briefly scan the 5 talking points and graphs below in 1 minute.
  2. Take a few minutes to digest the graphs and commentary.

Enjoy and let me know what you think.

free market trend graphs from sacramento appraisal blog

THE SACRAMENTO REGION:

1) Prices have been flat for 4 months:

median price sacramento placer yolo el dorado county

The median price has been the same for four months in the Sacramento Region, which is why so many in the real estate community have been talking about a flat market. As you can see on the graph, values cool off when inventory increases.

But Trendgraphix says… Trendgraphix shows the median price increased over the past few months from $310,000 to $315,000 for the Sacramento Region, but they seem to have pulled their sales data too early. When running stats in MLS for the past four months, the median price is clearly stable at $310,000 for each respective month. This is not to bash Trendgraphix at all because I am an enormous fan of their work. I only wanted to point out the importance of waiting long enough to publish stats, and how publishing even a few days too early can make a big difference.

2) Inventory is steadily increasing in the Sacramento Region:

months of housing inventory in region by sacramento appraisal blog

Housing inventory has been increasing and is helping fuel a greater sense of confidence among buyers (they’ve become more picky too), as well as many price reductions. Housing inventory increased from 2.50 months to 2.64 months over the course of the past month. Inventory is still not very high, but many sellers seem to have an unrealistic mindset about what their properties are worth, which is only leading to inevitable price reductions. Moreover, we are seeing weaker demand than in years past in light of less cash investors playing the market. My advice? Consider pricing according to the most recent competitive listings, that is, ones that are actually getting into contract (as opposed to the highest sale in the neighborhood three months ago).

number of listings in Placer  Yolo El Dorado Sacramento - by home appraiser blog

The graph above is a slightly different way to look at inventory. As you can see, the bulk of listings are between 200-400K, but there are quite a few from 400-750K too. Remember, not every price range, neighborhood, or property type is experiencing the same exact trend.

3) It took 2 days longer to sell a home last month:

days on market in placer sac el dorado yolo county by sacramento appraisal blog

In July it took three days longer to sell a home, and last month it took days longer. When days on market increases, it’s a sign the market is slowing down. Yet at the same time this is a very normal trend because the hot buying season does fade away as summer closes. Generally speaking, the higher the price, the longer it is taking to sell.

4) Sales volume is down 10% in 2014 compared to 2013:

SALES volume in sacramento region - by home appraiser blog

number of listings in Placer Sacramento Yolo El Dorado county - July 2014 - by home appraiser blog

Sales volume is down by slightly more than 10% this year compared to last year, and less sales is definitely one of the factors helping to cool the housing market. Less sales has led to increased inventory and a transfer of power from sellers to buyers.

5) Cash is down by 37% this year in the Sacramento Region:

cash sales and volume in sacramento region - by home appraiser blog

I mentioned already that the sales volume is down by 10%, but the X-factor for lower volume is really less cash sales. There have only been about 50 more non-cash sales in 2014 compared to 2013, but almost 2000 less cash sales this year. Having this many fewer sales has made certain months in the year feel sluggish, and it’s certainly contributed to the flattening trend we’ve seen over the past several months.

BONUS MATERIAL: PLACER COUNTY

Placer County median price and inventory - by home appraiser blog

median price in placer county and sacramento county by sacramento appraisal blog

Uptick, but still flat in Placer County: Placer County saw an uptick in median price last month, but it’s not really anything to write home about. One month of data does not mean the market is now increasing after being flat. Moreover, when talking with real estate agents, Placer County is very similar to Sacramento County in that the market is very price sensitive. If it’s not priced right, it’s going to sit.

Placer County housing inventory - by home appraiser blog

months of housing inventory in placer county by sacramento appraisal blog

Inventory in Placer County increased last month: Monthly inventory saw an increase last month from 2.72 months to 2.91 months. This effectively means there are 2.91 months worth of houses for sale in Placer County right now. Generally speaking, the higher the price, the more inventory there is.

days on market in placer county by sacramento appraisal blogIt’s taking two days longer to sell compared to last month: On average it is taking 47 days to sell a home in Placer County compared with 45 days last month. For context it is taking 40 days in Sacramento County and 42 days in the entire region. There were only 2 sales under $100,000, so disregard the 97 days listed above.

Placer County sales volume - by sacramento appraisal blog

Sales volume was fairly similar to last month: Sales volume was similar to last month, and is overall approaching more normal levels (though volume is still down slightly from 2013).

Sharing Trends? It’s a huge joy to put together these graphs each month, and I hope they’re helpful for you and your contacts. If you want to share graphs online or in your newsletter, please see my sharing policy. I hope you reach out for the graphs I didn’t post here too as I’d love to make those available to you. Fill out the form above or send me an email.

Thank you for being here.

Question: How else would you describe the market? I’d love to hear your take no matter what your level of interest or knowledge is about the housing market.

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

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Filed Under: Market Trends Tagged With: cash buyers, cooling values, flat median price, Home Appraiser, House Appraiser, increasing inventory, less cash investors, lower sales volume, price reductions, real estate appraisers, Real Estate Market in Sacramento, sacramento region housing market, slower real estate sales

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First off, thank you for being here. Now let's get into the fine print. The material and information contained on this website is the copyrighted property of Ryan Lundquist and Lundquist Appraisal Company. Content on this website may not be reproduced or republished without prior written permission from Ryan Lundquist.

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