Busy Home Buyers Continue to Drain Inventory

25 percent fewer homes currently available for sale versus last year

The number of active and available homes for sale throughout greater Sacramento declined an aggressive 15 percent since October and currently remains a staggering 25 percent below last year at this time. Voracious market demand, measured by the rate of new pending sales, left the region with a very a modest 1.8 months of remaining home supply on December 1. This market information was presented by Lyon Real Estate based upon data provided by Trendgraphix Inc., a Sacramento-based reporting company.

A total of 2,035 resale homes went under contract as pending sales, while 1,905 were posted as sold and closed across the entire region for the month of November. Both sales categories did reflect significant but typical decreases when compared to October. New pending sales, however, continued to flow in and consequently were up 15 percent versus last year at this time.

According to Pat Shea, president of Lyon Real Estate, “re-sale buyer activity is clearly behaving much differently than what we are accustomed to when considering recent year-end histories. Simultaneously and unfortunately, new listings entering the market were off 30 percent compared to last November. The sheer lack of inventory will surely diminish sales over the next few months.”

The average home sales price of $467,000 and median sales price of $422,000 for the region in November both reflect slightly more than a 5 percent increase compared to this time last year. A consistent pattern of price stability is further evident, as the average sales price has ticked down slightly over the past six months after reaching a high of $484,000 in June. Prices have clearly established a sustainable “new normal” though with an extended stay at these levels. The region has experienced a steady rebound in home prices since the pre-recession peak in June of 2006 at $472,000 and the subsequent and dramatic fall off.

All price points experienced the same result of lower inventory with steady, new open escrow and closed sales figures. Homes in the move-up range of $400,000 to $750,000, however, enjoyed an extraordinary 30 percent increase in new pending sales versus November of 2018. The entry-level suffered the greatest inventory loss, ending the month 43 percent lower than last November.

“The greater Sacramento economy remains on its very best run ever,” says Shea.  “It certainly seems cliché by now, but let’s face it — employment numbers, mortgage interest rates, the stock market run, and expansive growth in local development are all screaming at buyers to keep at it. Anyone thinking about selling in 2020 should be listening as well and get on the market now.

Why would anyone wait until inventory and mortgage rates start rising again? You tell me.”

About TrendGraphix, Inc.

TrendGraphix, Inc. is a real estate reporting company based in Sacramento that uses local Multiple Listing Service (MLS) data to provide highly visual market statistical graphs to real estate brokers, agents, and MLS/Realtor associations across the country. TrendGraphix’s programs are currently used by tens of thousands of agents in more than 250 brokerages in 48 states. For more information about TrendGraphix, visit www.trendgraphix.com.