July 2013 real estate market

The market has been shifting a bit and the stats are showing it. Cash sales in Sacramento County have been declining over the past several months, which has increased room for others to have a fighting chance to get into contract.

Cash sales in Sacramento County through July 2013 - by Sacramento Appraisal Blog

Inventory has increased over the past several months and there has been less investors playing the market. Despite an uptick in sales in Q2 of 2013, for example, investors played a lesser percentage role in overall sales. For reference, there were 3831 sales in Sacramento County in Q1 2013 and 4748 sales in Q2 of 2013.

fha conventional cash stats sacramento county through july 2013 - by sacramento appraisal blog

Good News for Buyers: Monthly data should be taken with a grain of salt because as time unfolds stats can get stronger and end up swaying in a different direction. However, I believe the stats for July 2013 do tell a story that real estate agents mentioned in last week’s post, “Sacramento’s real estate market in one sentence“. Overall as cash has decreased, FHA has seen a slight increase and conventional sales have been up slightly too (conventional sales rose about 4% from Q1 to Q2 for all of Sacramento County). This is good news for buyers and especially first-time buyers who are looking to purchase. Yes, the market is still heavily saturated with investors and inventory is still tight…. BUT buyers have definitely gained more power lately. To use a line for buyers inspired from the book The Hunger Games, “May the odds be ever in your favor”. 🙂

Question: As an agent, buyer or seller, what are you experiencing out there? Comment below.

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

How would you describe the housing market? I asked a handful of real estate professionals to explain market trends in Sacramento in July 2013 by using ONLY one sentence. This is first-hand insight in “Twitter-sized” chunks.

July 2013 real estate market in Sacramento - by Sacramento Appraisal Blog

Barbara Lebrecht – Realtor/Broker: “Despite rising interest rates and a promising yet small increase in inventory, buyers and investors continue to duke it out for well priced properties.”

Erin Newington – Realtor: “Buyers are starting to get more leverage during negotiations, and Sellers now have to come down off the cloud and get back to reality!”

Eric Peterson – Managing Director Praxis Capital: “The Sacramento market has gone from red hot to whatever temperature is just above luke warm in the last 30 days.”

Jeff Grenz – Realtor/Broker: “Mostly corrected and on its way back to a normal end-user (an employed owner occupant with financing) driven and balanced market.”

Brandy Salazar – VP Folsom Asset Management: “In July, we experienced an increase in inventory and a shift to a more buyer-friendly market.”

Estella Drake – Realtor: “Sellers want to make a killing, buyers want a good deal, valuations all over the map, lending is more challenging, flipping deals are running dry, and on a happy note interest rates are still fantastic.”

Erin Stumpf – Realtor: “Many Sacramento home buyers were shocked into paralysis around the beginning of the July due to the sharp increase in mortgage interest rates, only to be reinvigorated to aggressively search for homes again by the month’s end since they realize rates won’t dip so low again any time soon; supply of homes for sale is still relatively low and demand is still high.”

Ray Henson – Realtor: “There is high demand for a very limited supply of homes in Sacramento and the few homeowners that are selling have little incentive to sell as prices continue to rise month over month”.