Home sales indicate market is slowing slightly in Citrus Heights, region

Sentinel staff report–
Latest home sales data shows just over 100 homes closed sale in Citrus Heights last month, down from a high point of 130 in May.

According to the most recent MLS data provided by local real estate broker Beth Moran, home sales in July ranged in price from as low as $216,000 for an 840-square-foot, two-bedroom condo on Cavan Drive, to as high as $670,000 for a five-bedroom, 2,641-square-foot home on Hespera Way. The condo sold for $16,000 over list price, while the home on Hespera Way closed at $4,000 below list price.

In an Aug. 11 blog post titled “10 ways the housing market is slowing,” Sacramento area real estate appraiser Ryan Lundquist noted prices in the region are starting to dip, and fewer sales are happening — although much of that he said is expected as “normal seasonal slowing.”

“The market is slowing, but it’s not dull,” he wrote. “The doom and gloom crowd loves to say the market is starting to crash because of the slowness we’re seeing, but stats right now don’t support a crash and burn narrative.”

Additional signs of a slowing market are that it’s taking a few days longer to sell a home, slightly more homes are selling below list price, and there are slightly fewer offers above list price, according to Lundquist. He also noted housing supply has increased recently in Sacramento County and adjacent counties, but said “we are still at an absurdly low level with basically less than a one-month supply of homes for sale.”

Prior to the pandemic, the monthly inventory in Sacramento County hovered between one and two months supply of housing in 2019, but that dipped well-below one month’s supply during the latter half of 2020 and extending into 2021. A similar trend was seen in the adjacent counties of Placer, El Dorado and Yolo.

Lundquist also cited data showing sales with multiple offers in the region peaked in April this year with about 75% of single-family homes receiving multiple offers, but that has since dipped to about 65%. Compared to a normal year, however, that number is still much higher than the peak of about 50-55% from 2017 to 2019, according to regional data posted on Lundquist’s website, www.sacramentoappraisalblog.com.

The appraiser’s advice to buyers is: “[B]e hopeful that we’re seeing some seasonal slowing, but be careful not to think you’re poised for a big price discount. We’re just not in that sort of market.”

Editor’s note: A full list of homes sold in Citrus Heights last month will be included in The Sentinel’s Aug. 15th Weekend Edition