Greater Sacramento Home Sales Skyrocket

June new open escrows jump 31% versus last year.

New open escrows posted during the month of June throughout the Greater Sacramento region totaled 3,337 and finished 31 percent greater than June of 2019. The last time this market metric crested the three thousand count mark was in March of 2012 when the average sales price rested at $195,000. The average price for June 2020 came in at $497,000 which marked a 3 percent increase year-over-year.

New opens in the upper-end, or $750,000 and above price point, experienced a monster month as 397 homes were placed under contract. That number followed the previous new record of 255 new sales for May. Total new open escrows in that market segment for the second quarter ended 9 percent higher than in 2019 in spite of a gruesome April due to COVID19.

The low number of new listings entering the region’s housing market continues to cause concern for the sustainability of this sales surge. New listings hitting the market in June were 4 percent lower than May and fell 14 percent shy of June 2019. Fewer new listings combined with the extreme rate of new sales left the resale housing market with 40 percent less inventory than last year at this time. This market information is presented by Lyon Real Estate based upon data provided by Trendgraphix Inc., a Sacramento-based reporting company.

Closed sales for the month of June were up 45 percent versus May and were off only 4 percent versus June of 2019. This further reflects the recovery from our market interruption.

“Year to date closed sale numbers are now down only 14 percent compared to last year,” says Pat Shea, president of Lyon Real Estate. He added, “that gap will continue to shrink in the coming months as new open escrows are now off only 6 percent over the same period.”

The entry-level, or homes priced below $400,000, currently stands with 50 percent fewer properties available on the market compared to last year at this time. The move-up, $400,000 to $750,000 range is 40 percent lower. This also translates to less than one month of housing supply, based upon the current rate of new open escrows.

Sacramento-area new construction home sales also surged in June, with 655 sales reported by members of the North State Building Industry Association. With the sharp rebound in sales since the market briefly fell in April, sales for the first six months of 2020 now exceed totals for the same period in 2019.

“People and businesses throughout Greater Sacramento are figuring out how to survive and thrive as we navigate through circumstances that are extremely challenging but will eventually pass,” says Shea. “The security and enjoyment that owning a home provides will always remain a basic human need and desire. More homebuyers will also continue to come this way from other areas as our region’s home values and lifestyle are the best story in California right now. There are multiple offers on nearly every property due to drastically low inventory and mortgage interest rates.  Prospective sellers moving up, moving down or moving out should get on the market while everything is in their favor.”

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.