The 2024 housing market was better than 2023

It’s great news that 2024 performed better than the 2023 housing market. Seeing more buyers and sellers able to participate is absolutely what we want to see. Let’ get into it. Skim quickly by topic or digest slowly.

UPCOMING SPEAKING GIGS:

1/15/25 Mike & Joel free Zoom event (REGISTER FOR WEDNESDAY)
1/16/25 Sac Real Producers event (details TBA)
1/22/25 Windermere El Dorado Hills / Folsom (private I think)
1/24/25 PCAR Market Update (details TBA)
1/31/25 Prime Real Estate (private)
2/6/25 She Invests event (TBA)
2/11/25 MLS Meeting TBA
2/12/25 Coldwell Banker EDH (private I think)
2/12/25 NARPM (private)
2/18/25 Travis Credit Union TBA
3/6/25 Yolo Association YPN Event
3/12/25 Windemere Sierra Oaks
3/20/25 HomeSmart iCare Realty (private I think)
4/10/25 Yuba-Sutter Association (details TBA)
4/15/25 Culbertson and Gray (private I think)
5/8/25 Private event (details TBA)
5/13/25 PCAR
6/5/25 Auburn Marketing Meeting
9/26/25 PCAR
11/4/25 SAR Main Meeting

SWEET 16 BLOG MIXER IN ONE WEEK:

My blog is turning 16, so it’s a good excuse to bring people together. I’d love to have you at the mixer on January 22. If you feel connected to me, you’re invited. Click on the image for details. Please RSVP since I need to buy enough appetizers.

CONTENT OF THIS POST

1. Eighteen billion dollars
2. Modest price growth
3. Hello more buyers
4. Sellers came back more than buyers
5. Bro, it’s not 2021 (days on market)
6. Housing supply increased
7. Financed sales grew more than cash
8. Annual recap stats for nine counties

NOTE: Annual stats represent all of 2024 compared to all of 2023. The benefit is we see the big picture, but the downfall is the trend in recent months could feel covered up when looking at the entire year only.

1) EIGHTEEN BILLION DOLLARS

Total sales volume in ten local counties added up to $18.9 billion, which is $1.4 billion higher than one year ago. I’ll post a fancy visual to show this on my Instagram maybe later today.

2) MODEST PRICE GROWTH

In 2024, price metrics saw a modest uptick from 2023. Most metrics in the region are up somewhere around 3% or so, but some counties are closer to 1%. All that said, when pulling comps in many neighborhoods lately, it feels very flat. My advice? Look to neighborhood comps to understand price change instead of imposing a county metric on a property. By the way, when I say the market was better in 2024 in my title, I’m referring to volume and listings – not prices. I’m not a cheerleader for higher or lower prices, but I am an advocate of a healthy market where buyers and sellers can participate, so it’s excellent news that we saw more of each category in 2024. 

3) HELLO MORE BUYERS

Some good news for 2024 is we saw buyers thaw out from 2023, and the expectation is to see slightly more buyers in 2025 (though if rates move up too much, that will hamper the trend). In short, we saw 6.6% more closed sale in the four-county region, and more like 5% in the wider ten-county region. We’re still down significantly from the normal number, but having more feels like a win in 2024. My advice? Rejoice in the small wins. And if you work in real estate, keep asking yourself where volume is growing so you can position yourself for the market today.

4) SELLERS CAME BACK MORE THAN BUYERS

Last year we had about 3,500 more new listings compared to the previous year, but only about 1,100 more closed sales (in the four-county region). In short, sellers came back more than buyers. Do you see the gap between listings and sales each year in the visuals below? The gap in 2024 is simply wider than it was in 2023, and that’s exactly why price growth was more subdued. We need to keep watching this gap in 2025 and build expectations around a market with more supply than we’ve seen in a few years.

5) BRO, IT’S NOT 2021

Last year it took about twice as long to get into contract from 2021 levels, but the numbers today are actually very close to the pre-2020 norm. Do you know what’s not normal? 2021 stats. Some of the change stems from overpriced properties, but it’s also about buyers being very picky and having more listings.

6. HOUSING SUPPLY INCREASED

Supply is still low in Sacramento, but it’s higher than one year ago due to more sellers listings their homes and properties taking longer to sell (which means there are more homes that stay on the market). But we aren’t back to 2019 levels yet, which would be more of a “normal” level. In short, some other parts of the country have seen supply shoot up dramatically, but that hasn’t been the vibe here even though we’ve seen a clear increase.

7) FINANCED SALES GREW MORE THAN CASH

This is huge news. Sometimes people say it’s just cash buyers today, but the stats show we actually saw more growth in financed buyers compared to cash buyers. The trend is a bit different by county, and I’ll unpack various locations in upcoming presentations.

8) ANNUAL RECAP STATS FOR NINE COUNTIES

Last but not least, here are recap stats for nine counties as well as the four-county region. Please use these as you see fit. See my sharing policy for details about way to share my content.

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