We’re obsessed with prices. OBSESSED. But real estate is about way more. In fact, if we want to understand a market we need to move beyond a laser focus on prices. On that note, let’s talk about sales volume.
1) Seven hundred missing sales: There were about 700 fewer sales this April compared to last year in the Sacramento region. In other words, sales volume was down about 30% last month from April 2019.
2) Volume reflects pendings from the past: In mid-March the housing market started to react to the coronavirus and in three weeks pending contracts dropped 45%. Well, pending contracts from back then started to close in April, and that’s the reason why we saw a big drop in monthly volume.
3) Sensational: It’s easy to get sensational with stats like this and say the housing market is crashing, but we’ve been in a pandemic and these types of numbers at 30% are what we’d expect. Moreover, we’re seeing figures like this in many markets across the country. Keep in mind pending contracts have been on the rise for the past month, which means we can expect sales volume figures to grow in a month or two when these new ones close.
4) It’s about more than prices: The reason I’m so interested in sales volume is because it’s possible for prices to remain stable even though the number of actual sales has changed dramatically. So while it’s easy to say, “Hey, prices are okay,” I think the bigger headline has to do with what is happening behind the scene with sales volume. I talked about this in a webinar this week here.
Now let’s get visual.
FRESH VISUALS TO SHOW SALES VOLUME:
OTHER VISUALS TO SHOW WEEKLY / DAILY CHANGES:
RESOURCES:
New market video: Here’s my weekly market update. It’s 15 minutes and I talk through some big stats this week that show buyers and sellers are coming back to the market. Check it out below (or here).
A pandemic webinar: On Monday I did a 90-minute webinar with the Sacramento Association of Realtors. This is almost an hour and I trimmed the first ten minutes because it was a recap of my weekly video. Watch below (or here).
Videos this week: I’ve been doing lots of video conversations lately. I figured I would post the recorded ones in case anyone wants to listen.
4/30/2020 Conversation with Steve LaMothe
5/01/2020 Conversation with Anthony Alfano & Others
WEBINAR NEXT WEEK: I’m doing a one-hour webinar next week for Safe Credit Union on May 13th. It’s free. Sign up here if you wish.
Appraiser John Carlson GoFundMe: John is an appraiser in Southern California and he was diagnosed with cancer and hospitalized. I invite you to pray for him and donate if you can. See more here.
I hope this was interesting or helpful. Thanks for being here.
Questions: What are you noticing happening with the market these days? Anything to add? What did I miss?
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