GOOD NEWS FOR THE SPRING 2019 HOUSING MARKET!
Thank You LyonLocal blog!
The average sales price in March reaches $459,000, the highest since last summer
The Greater Sacramento region enjoyed 2,053 closed home sales during the month of March. This marked a notable 29 percent increase when compared to February and signaled that a typical spring rebound is currently underway. Total closed sales for the entire first quarter fell off 10 percent when compared to the same period last year but did recover quite swiftly after an abnormally slow start in January.
Momentum in the market continued to surge as 2,618 new open escrows for the month were an encouraging 32 percent higher than February numbers and finished nearly even with the robust sales reported in March of 2018. New open escrows for the now completed, first quarter of 2019 were down 4 percent versus last year but actually track quite well with all other years of the extended, growth market cycle. This market information was provided by Trendgraphix Inc., a Sacramento-based reporting company and presented by Lyon Real Estate.
“Even though standing inventory is up nearly 8 percent compared to last year at this time, it does not tell the entire story,” says Pat Shea, president of Lyon Real Estate. “New listings entering the market were down 14 percent in the first quarter compared to 2018 and when adding the resurgence of buyer demand, the market was left with merely 1.5 months of supply on March 31st. These combined metrics are keeping the market very tight in most areas and price points.”
The high rate of sales and low inventory combination pushed the average sales price for the month of March to $459,000 and a median sales price for the month to $410,000. Both reached their highest points after months of receding from peaks reached last summer. The average number of days on the market for homes that closed escrow in March dropped to 47 with sellers receiving an average of 99 percent of list price.
Shea states that “winter clearly brought a market pause due to economic uncertainty from trade and tariff news, interest rate noise and remarkably heavy, seasonal rainfall. Buyers, however, have returned with a vengeance as positive employment numbers, a new drop in mortgage interest rates and migration from the San Francisco Bay Area continues. You can surely expect these hot sales trends to continue straight through the spring and summer home-selling season.”
