Monday, August 21, 2017

What is happening on the market front?

Signs that the economy is doing well are good, consumer spending went up higher than expected in July over June. June was at 0.3 and July was 0.6. Spending makes up about two-thirds of the economy so this is good news.

Housing starts fell by about 4.8% from June due to lack of land available for building and material prices rising. The state needs about 180,000 new housing starts per year to keep up with the population growth and it is building less than 80,000 on average annually.

Feds are concerned about low inflation, no start date for the reduction in the Fed's $4.5 trillion balance sheet, and the housing starts falling which all added up to an increase in bond rates. The increase in bond prices helps the mortgage interest rates stay lower.

All of this adds up to it being a good time to sell as home prices have jumped considerately and interest rates are staying at all time lows. We are starting to see a few more homes coming on the market as people are beginning to sell.

All of the above information is from different reports I have been reading. I have not verified it personally.

Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Housing Inventory Begins Seasonal Climb

On July 31st, 4,405 residential properties were posted as active and available for sale throughout the 4-county Greater Sacramento region. That number marked a 10 percent increase in supply when compared to June, but remained 12 percent below July of last year. Currently, the region enjoys its highest inventory level since September of 2016. This market information is presented by Lyon Real Estate based upon data provided by Trendgraphix Inc., a Sacramento-based reporting company.
During the month of July, 2,481 properties were reported as sold and closed. This represented a 17 percent fall off versus a very robust June. “Due to protracted escrow periods and the number of business days in a month, it is best to look at longer periods to accurately assess trends,” says Pat Shea, president of Lyon Real Estate. “For instance, if we compare unit numbers from May, June and July combined, closed sales were up 1.4 percent versus last year.”
The rate of new open escrows or pending sales, support expectations that closed sales will remain strong in the coming months. New escrows opened in July were up 3 percent compared to June. They also stand 5 percent higher over the past three months compared to last year at this time.
The average closed sale price of $433,000 and median price of $392,000 posted in July were both more than 9 percent greater than last year. Sellers received 99 percent of their original list price and were on the market an average of 24 days prior to accepting a contract. Below the one million dollar price point across the entire region, there remains a meager 1.5 months of inventory based upon the current rate of sales. A seller’s market is typically viewed as anything less than 4 months.
“All of these key market metrics further reflect the stability and sustainability of the Greater Sacramento real estate market,” says Shea. “Expect inventory to climb slightly over the next few months but sales to remain very steady. All of the news surrounding our Northern California and local economy is good and consumer confidence is quite high. It’s still an excellent time to buy or move-up, all throughout our region.”
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.
Category Real Estate