New pending sales jump 21% versus January
Potential home sellers and buyers alike are seeing a swift return to the “new normal” all throughout the Greater Sacramento region’s housing market. Buyers are back to snapping up homes at a rapid pace as 2,158 homes were placed under contract during the month of February. That number reflected a sizable 21 percent increase versus January and a notable 5 percent lift from a busy February of last year. This market information was presented by Lyon Real Estate based upon data provided by Trendgraphix Inc., a Sacramento-based reporting company.
Market-wide, inventory at the end of February rested at 2,895 homes active and available for sale. Although the supply level marked a 6 percent drop from January, it did reveal an 11 percent increase versus one year ago at this time. Based upon the renewed rate of buyer activity however, there is currently a mere 1.5 months of inventory available on the market.
Further analysis of new open escrows and supply by price range revealed some additional color. Entry level homes below $400,000 are currently left with approximately 1 month of supply remaining. The move up market — homes priced between $400,000 and $750,000 — isn’t much better, with only 1.6 months of inventory. New open escrows for homes priced above $750,000 have also increased notably over the past few months leaving just 3.6 months of supply. Accordingly, all price points are largely considered to be in very tight market conditions.
Even though closed sales improved 8 percent versus January, they remained 12 percent off from February of 2018. This data heavily reflects the dramatic fall off in new open escrows reported during December and January compared to the same period in the prior year. Closed sales will surely rise significantly in the coming months due to the elevated rate of new open escrows.
The average sales price across the region for the month of February rested at $445,000, precisely matching the market-wide average for the past 6 months. Homes that closed escrow over the past two months averaged approximately 97 percent of original list price and 55 days on the market.
“The decline of the Greater Sacramento resale housing market has been greatly exaggerated,” says Pat Shea, president of Lyon Real Estate. “Trade war commotion, wild stock market fluctuations, upward interest rate pressure, tax considerations and general market fatigue all likely contributed to sales tapering off at the end of 2018. He added, “rock solid employment numbers, favorable mortgage programs and rates, excellent values in our housing stock and strong overall consumer confidence in Northern California means home sales will once again be exceptionally strong in Greater Sacramento throughout all of 2019.”
