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regional housing market

An underrated metric & slumping volume

December 12, 2018 By Ryan Lundquist 26 Comments

There’s a stat that doesn’t get much love. It’s not sexy, nobody really writes about it in the newspapers, and most people don’t even know what it is. But it’s really important because it helps us tell how hot or cool the market is. I’m talking about the sales to list price ratio. Oops, did I lose you? I know, a topic like this sounds painful, but let’s consider why this actually matters. Then if you’re interested I have a huge local market update below to discuss slumping volume and slowing momentum. Any thoughts?

What is it? The sales price to original list price ratio is one of the best ways to gauge the temperature of the market. It’s the relationship between the final sales price and the original list price, and it’s expressed as a percentage.

If we only had one stat: We could likely get a pretty good understanding of how hot or cold a market is based on this metric alone. So without looking at price, inventory, or sales volume, if we simply saw a market had a 100% sales to original list price ratio, it tells us properties on average are selling for what they listed for. That’s a sign the market is hot or at least buyers are willing to pay what sellers are putting out there.

When we see this ratio moving up or down, it helps us get an idea of what the market is doing. For instance, over the past six months the sales price to original list price ratio has declined in Sacramento County, which tells us the gap has been growing between what sellers are asking and what they are actually getting. The most recent ratio is 96%, and that means on average properties are selling 4% lower than their original list price. That’s a powerful stat, right?

Not being anal, but ORIGINAL matters: It can make a huge difference if we’re looking at the original list price or the most recent list price.

Looking at the most recent list price makes it seem like the market isn’t cooling all that much. After all, a 99% sales to list price ratio still sounds pretty good. Yet this stat hides the real trend that properties on average are actually selling 4% lower than their original price. Thus if we’re not careful we can totally misunderstand the market despite good intentions. That’s sobering, right?

The “Bubble” years:

Right now 96% feels dull, but imagine 87%. Yikes!

Action Step: With so much talk about the market softening these days, it’s a good idea to pay attention to lots of different metrics – and especially the sales to original list price ratio. Keep in mind if the ratio isn’t available through MLS, it can always be run manually by dividing the final sales price into the original list price. For instance, all sales in Sacramento County this month totaled $512M while the original list price for all these sales totaled $533M. When I divide $512M into $533M I get 0.96 (or 96%).

I hope this was interesting or helpful.

—–——– Big local monthly market update (long on purpose) —–——–

Dull is a perfect word to describe this fall season. Actually really dull would be more accurate. Let’s consider some of the bigger themes happening right now in the market. 

DOWNLOAD GRAPHS FOR YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA: Please download all graphs here as a zip file. See my sharing policy for 5 ways to share (please don’t copy my post verbatim).

A week longer: It’s been taking about a week longer to sell this year compared to last year in the region (technically 8 days).

Prices softening: Prices normally soften during the fall season. If you don’t believe me, look at the graphs below. This year the median price is down by 6% from the height of summer in the region. This doesn’t mean every neighborhood or price range is down by that much, but there is a more defined softening present this year in many price ranges. Sellers would be wise to price according to listings that are getting into contract rather than the highest sales from spring. 

Sales volume slumping (please read): Sales volume is only down by 3% in the region this year, but the bigger stat is volume is down 11% over the past four months. This is definitely something we need to watch closely to see how it unfolds. In short, if volume rebounds to normal levels as 2019 begins, then we’ll chalk this slump up to a dull fall season like we had in 2014. If volume persists to decline though we’ll correctly call this a new direction for the market. So is this seasonal or not? I’ll tell you in a few months or so….

Momentum change: The rate of price changes has slowed lately. What I mean is in years past we’d regularly see 7-10% price increases when running stats, but over the past few months we’re starting to see only 2-6% increases instead. I talked about this last month, and the new stats show this same trend.

Ironic power exchange: There has been a power exchange lately where buyers have been gaining market share and sellers have been losing it. Of course we know sellers have struggled with being out of touch with the market as they’ve been prone to overprice. It’s been easy to point this out all year long, but ironically we’re starting to see something similar with some buyers thinking they’re completely running the show when in fact it’s not quite a full-fledged Buyers’ market.

I could write more, but let’s get visual instead.

BIG QUESTIONS:

1) How did the market change from last year?

2) How did the market change from October to November?

3) What’s happening with sales volume?

SACRAMENTO COUNTY VOLUME:

Key Stats:

  • November volume down 6.5%
  • 2018 volume down 1.4% (January to November)
  • Annual volume is down 2.1% (past 12 months)

SACRAMENTO REGION VOLUME:

Key Stats:

  • November volume down 12.1%
  • 2018 volume down 3.3% (January to November)
  • Annual volume is down 3.4% (past 12 months)

PLACER COUNTY VOLUME:

Key Stats:

  • November volume down 9.3%
  • 2018 volume down 5.6% (January to November)
  • Annual volume is down 6.1% (past 12 months)

4) MOMENTUM IS SLOWING:

November:

Past 90 Days:

Entire Year:

DOWNLOAD 100+ graphs: Please download all graphs here as a zip file. See my sharing policy for 5 ways to share (please don’t copy verbatim).

SACRAMENTO COUNTY (more graphs here):

SACRAMENTO REGION (more graphs here):

PLACER COUNTY (more graphs here):

I hope that was helpful.

DOWNLOAD 100+ graphs: Please download all graphs here as a zip file. See my sharing policy for 5 ways to share (please don’t copy verbatim).

Questions: Do you ever use the sales price to list price ratio? Why or why not? What do you see happening in the market right now?

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Filed Under: Market Trends Tagged With: El Dorado County, market is changing, Placer County, real estate bubble, real estate trends, regional housing market, Sacamento housing market, Sacramento County, Sacramento Home Appraiser, Sacramento House Appraiser, slowing market, slumping sales volume, trend graphs, Yolo County

Advice for an increasing real estate market (and Sacramento trends)

May 9, 2016 By Ryan Lundquist 12 Comments

When the market is flat, it’s easy to impress clients and look like a guru because of how accurate your values are. But when inventory shrinks, demand is off-the-hook, and the market shifts, it’s not always easy to nail value because things can change quickly in a short period of time. In light of the market increasing in value lately in many areas of the country, I thought it would be useful to offer some quick advice for dealing with increases. Then at the bottom of the post I have my ridiculously long Sacramento market update. I’d love to hear your take. Any thoughts?

increasing market advice for agents and appraisers - sacramento regional appraisal blog

Advice for Agents: When values are increasing, it’s crucial to pay careful attention when pulling comps before a listing. The tricky part in a “hot” market is it can be possible to get into contract at much higher levels than what is reasonable, so in a sense the agent has to really spend time weighing what a realistic value looks like before the listing hits the market. Keep in mind a lender’s appraiser is going to need to come up with a value that is supported by market data, reasonable for the neighborhood, and representative of the market. It’s easy to say, “The market is ‘hot’ and inventory is low, so I priced it higher,” but there really has to be support for the higher value. I recommend asking yourself the following questions and then talking clients through the answers.

  1. Is there support for value at the list price? (sales, pendings, listings, data)
  2. Is the list price reasonable? Does it make sense for the neighborhood?
  3. Would the market pay this price or would only one buyer pay this amount?

Advice for Appraisers: In an increasing market appraisers need to spend time figuring out how much the market has changed in recent time. In other words, if there has been upward value movement since the most recent sales got into contract, it could be very reasonable to give upward market adjustments to the comps. I suggest paying careful attention to competitive pendings, making market graphs in each report to help see the market, and keep an eye on competitive neighborhoods too in case data is sparse in the subject neighborhood. Lastly, let’s remember value increases might look more aggressive in some areas than others, so adjustments won’t look the same in every neighborhood or price range. Moreover, a typical canned market adjustment might be 1% per month (because that’s what a mentor taught us to do), but that might not be legit at all (like most canned adjustments). What does the market say? Let’s do our best to listen and then adjust if needed.

Questions: Any thoughts? What other advice would you give?

—————– For those interested, here is my big market update  —————–

Big monthly market update post - sacramento appraisal blog - image purchased from 123rfTwo ways to read the BIG POST:

  1. Scan the talking points and graphs quickly.
  2. Grab a cup of coffee and spend time digesting what is here.

DOWNLOAD 77 graphs HERE: Please download all graphs in this post (and more) here as a zip file (or send me an email). Use them for study, for your newsletter, or some on your blog. See my sharing policy for 5 ways to share (please don’t copy verbatim). Thanks.

Quick Market Summary: The market has been showing value increases. Whether looking at the median price, average price, or average price per sq ft, all the numbers sound “hot” so to speak. This isn’t a surprise though because it’s what normally happens in April. It’s worth noting it took 8 less days to sell last month compared to the same time last year, and the median price is up in the region by nearly 8% from last April. FHA sales were roughly 25% of all sales last month in Sacramento County, though they are down slightly from 27-28% of the market in past quarters (this is a stat worth watching over time). Sales volume for the entire year is down slightly, but not by much. In short, the stats are glowing overall because there has been upward growth with most metrics. However, buyers are still exhibiting price sensitivity. If properties are not priced correctly they are sitting instead of selling. Moreover, under the umbrella of a “hot market”, some sellers are simply pricing WAY too high for the market. They hear the word “hot”, but that doesn’t mean you can sell for anything. Lastly, just because the market has increased in value in some neighborhoods and the entire county doesn’t mean values are increasing for every property type or in every price range.

Sacramento County:

  1. It took an average of 31 days to sell a home last month.
  2. It took 6 less days to sell last month that the previous month.
  3. It took 11 less days to sell this April compared to last April.
  4. Sales volume is down slightly from last year by 3%.
  5. There is only 1.3 months of housing supply in Sacramento County.
  6. Housing inventory is 15% lower than it was last year at the same time.
  7. The median price increased by 1% last month.
  8. The median price is 10% higher than the same time last year.
  9. The avg price per sq ft increased by 2.8% last month.
  10. The avg price per sq ft is 8.8% higher than the same time last year.

Some of my Favorite Graphs this Month:

inventory - April 2016 - by home appraiser blog

CDOM in Sacramento County - by Sacramento Regional Appraisal Blog

Median price since 2013 in sacramento county

price metrics since 2015 in sacramento county - look at all

median price and inventory since 2005 - by sacramento appraisal blog

inventory in sacramento county Since 2013 - part 2 - by sacramento appraisal blog

fha and cash in sac county - sacramento appraisal blog

seasonal market in sacramento county sales volume 2

SACRAMENTO REGIONAL MARKET:

  1. It took 6 less days to sell last month compared to the previous month.
  2. It took 8 less days to sell this April compared to last April.
  3. Sales volume was 4.6% lower in April 2016 compared to last April.
  4. Short sales were 3% and REOs were 3% of sales last month.
  5. There is 1.6 months of housing supply in the region right now.
  6. Housing inventory is 9.5% lower than it was last year at the same time.
  7. The median price increased 3% last month from the previous month.
  8. The median price is 7.7% higher than the same time last year.
  9. The avg price per sq ft increased 2.5% last month.
  10. The avg price per sq ft is 6% higher than the same time last year.

Some of my Favorite Regional Graphs:

median price sacramento placer yolo el dorado county

sales volume 2015 vs 2016 in sacramento placer yolo el dorado county

sacramento region volume - FHA and conventional - by appraiser blog

Regional Inventory - by Sacramento regional appraisal blog

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

median price and inventory in sacramento regional market

PLACER COUNTY:

  1. It took 6 less days to sell a house last month than March.
  2. It took 2 less days to sell this April compared to last April.
  3. Sales volume was 6% lower in April 2016 compared to last April.
  4. FHA sales were 17% of all sales last month.
  5. Cash sales were 21% of all sales last month.
  6. There is 1.8 months of housing supply in Placer County right now.
  7. Housing inventory is 6.7% lower than it was last year at the same time.
  8. The median price increased 5.6% last month (take with a grain of salt).
  9. The median price is up 9.2% from April 2015.
  10. Short sales were 2.7% and REOs were 1% of sales last month.

Some of my Favorite Placer County Graphs:

days on market in placer county by sacramento appraisal blog

Placer County housing inventory - by home appraiser blog

months of housing inventory in placer county by sacramento appraisal blog

number of listings in PLACER county - 2016

Placer County price and inventory - by sacramento appraisal blog

Placer County sales volume - by sacramento appraisal blog

I hope this was helpful and interesting.

DOWNLOAD 77 graphs HERE: Please download all graphs in this post (and more) here as a zip file (or send me an email). Use them for study, for your newsletter, or some on your blog. See my sharing policy for 5 ways to share (please don’t copy verbatim). Thanks.

SacBee: By the way, the second article I wrote for the SacBee real estate section went live. It’s called “One size does not fit all when talking about the housing market.”

Questions: Any advice you’d give to clients right now about pricing? Is there any other market insight you’d like to add? I’d love to hear your take.

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Filed Under: Market Trends Tagged With: cash investors, FHA buyers, house appraiser sacramento region, increasing market, low housing invetory, low housing supply, low interest rates, market graphs, Placer County, regional housing market, Sacramento County, Sacramento Home Appraiser, Sacramento Real Estate Market, sacramento regional appraisal blog, trend graphs

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