Folsom Home Sales – A mixed bag
After a year of bad news in the real estate market, there are some signs that things may be changing for the better. The January numbers are in, and although they’re not great, there is some good news.
A Look at the Numbers
First of all, with an average sale price of $800,000, prices are down about 8% from last year at this time. That’s good for home buyers, but a loss of about $69,000 in equity for sellers.
Homes are also taking longer to sell. While sales generally do slow down in winter, it took an average of 44 days for sellers to get acceptable offers in January, compared to a 25 day sales cycle a year ago.
With longer sales cycles can come a buildup in inventory, but that’s not the case this year, because there are fewer new listings. There were 42 new listings last month, while there were 59 last January. Why? Who knows? It could be that sellers are watching and waiting for the market to stabilize. That would be my guess.
Pending Sales – A glimmer of hope
While closed sales reflect what was happening in the market 30 to 60 prior to closing, pending sales reflect more current activity. January saw 45 pending sales, down from 55 one year ago.
I was surprised to find that 44% of those pending sales had multiple offers. I personally wrote offers on 3 properties, and my clients were outbid on 3 of them.
Also note that although, as mentioned above, it took 45 days on average to get an acceptable offer, 23% of pending sales took less than a week.
What’s it all mean?
So, while it’s too early to call it either way, although prices are down, and it’s taking longer to sell, with interest rates dropping to below 5%, the new year, pent up demand, good weather, consumer confidence, whatever other factors might be motivating buyers, activity is picking up, and houses that are priced right, are selling quickly, often with multiple offers.
With inventory still limited, (there are currently 61 homes for sale in Folsom ) if we don’t see major changes in the factors mentioned, while we don’t expect the market to take off, it could stabilize, and get back to a new normal.
As I always say, time will tell.
Any questions? What stands out to you?
Drop me a line – steve@myfolsom.com – 916 718 9577
Steve Heard is a Folsom based Realtor with EXP of Northern California, DRE#01368503, and owner of MyFolsom.com – 916 718 9577