Realtor’s Column: How were October home sales in Citrus Heights? Not too scary

By Beth Moran–
Now that the eviction moratorium has expired, how has that impacted home sales in our area?

Well, according to the US Census Bureau’s website, 56.8% of people living in Citrus Heights own
their home (or they have a mortgage). October’s numbers show the majority of listings were straight up residential sales: in other words no distress sales except four sales where the home was sold by a trustee.

So, the idea of foreclosures and distressed sales coming to fruition doesn’t appear to be problematic as some people think.

That’s not to say there aren’t homeowners in distress who have defaulted on their mortgage payments. In Citrus Heights, as of this writing, there were 13 homes in default — but that doesn’t mean they are going to be foreclosed upon.

The banks realize that most people have equity and are willing to re-cast those loans and tack the months of default onto the end of the loan. That is, provided the homeowner can show an income and can make the payments.

That being said let’s take a look at the numbers for October, 2021.

The stats for October sales in Citrus Heights had some unusual numbers. The lowest priced property to sell was a Greenback Estates condo listed at @212K that sold for $205K. The highest sale was a home on Jana Marie Ct selling for $800,000 in 4 days! The highest price per square foot was $468.11 for a 972-square-foot home on almost a half-acre lot on Mariposa Avenue.

These sales are not representative of what is typical, as the median price of a home in Citrus Heights for October was $460,000. All told, there were 109 sales with an average of 17 days on market.

Other interesting stats show that the number of listings that sold over the asking price was 89 of 109 or 82% of the total homes sold during Oct. 2021.Those homes sold within 30 days of being listed for sale. Those 89 sellers gained an additional 3.05% over asking price on average, although the other 20 sales didn’t have much to complain about: they averaged a sold price of 99% of asking price.

As I’ve said before most homes sell on average either plus or minus 3% of the asking price.

One other interesting fact is that all of these homes were built between 1952 and 1998 which challenges the notion that people will pay more for newer homes. These statistics beg the question of how are people affording these homes?

Again, according to the US Census Bureau’s website, the average median household income in Citrus Heights is $62,276. Since the average price of a home in Citrus Heights sold for $460,000, that means a two income household at the very least. Equity proceeds from a previous sale would also be a way to keep the payment reasonable.

According to Salary.com​, the cost of living in Citrus Heights is 7.3% higher than the national average. That number is up 2.5% from just one year ago. So how is that impacting our real estate market? Well… it seems that a number of home sellers have begun dropping their price.

That, coupled with seasonal slowing could prove to be a boon to buyers looking to find a home before the year ends. If you’re even thinking about selling this year now is the time to get your home listed. Don’t chase the ball down the hill because interest rates are starting to climb.

Beth W. Moran is a local Broker (DRE01264309) selling real estate since 1999. She can be reached at (916)947-3993 or Beth@SacAgent.com.