Resale Numbers Bounce Back in Sacramento Real Estate

MARKET UPDATE

December closed sales up 12% over November

After enduring a sluggish November, the Greater Sacramento resale housing market jumped 12 percent, posting 1,938 closed sales for the month of December. Still 4 percent below December 2013 closings, a year-over-year increase of 12% in new pending sales offered the potential for a good start to 2015.  This information was provided by Trendgraphix Inc., a Sacramento based reporting company and reported by Lyon Real Estate.

“Some people have been expecting an extended pause or some type of adjustment in the sales activity that has remained very persistent since March,” says Pat Shea, president of Lyon Real Estate. “Buyers just keep coming and sellers with new found equity, from the double digit appreciation experienced over the past few years, are placing their homes on the market.”

December ended with 4,206 active and available listings on the market in Sacramento, Placer, Yolo and El Dorado counties combined. This left a mere 2.2 months of inventory at the current rate of closed sales. Total available inventory experienced a significant but most likely seasonal decline of 32% since September, however numbers are expected to rise again by spring.

Shea notes some interesting facts inside the numbers: “Sixty-eight percent of the remaining homes on the market on December 31^st were priced below $450,000 while 82% of the sales for the entire region occurred in that price range last year. The $450,000 – $750,000 range ended 2014 with 22% of the standing inventory where 15% of total sales occurred last year.”  The median price for the region ended the year at $309,000, approximately 9% higher than December of 2013.

“Below $450,000, the Greater Sacramento region remains in a strong seller’s market,” says Shea. “Things become more balanced in the move-up price range and the advantage clearly leans toward buyers in the upper end.” He expects that this pattern will continue. “Homes in all ranges that are priced properly and show well will sell in 2015,” he added.