Sacramento Real Estate Market Update – September 2024

Let’s talk about the Sacramento Real Estate market for September 2024. Stick around to the end and I going to myth bust some of the crazy real estate headlines for you.

Let’s get into the details.

New Home Sales

New home sales in the greater Sacramento area continued at a brisk pace in September with the North State Building Industry Association reporting its members sold 530 homes in the seven-county region during the month.

That total was down 12% from August’s 605 sales, but August was a five-week month. Year over year, sales climbed 9% from 485 in September 2023 and were 25% higher than the monthly average of 530.

Sales remain strongest in Sacramento County, driven by the fact that numerous new home communities have come online in recent months. Sales totaled 319 in Sacramento County and cities, followed by 127 in Placer County, 36 in Yuba County and 28 in Yolo County. (Note that not every builder reported sales by county this month, so total sales for the region were eight more than the number reported by county.)

Rancho Cordova again saw the most sales of any submarket with 91, followed by Roseville with 82, Sacramento with 78, Elk Grove with 57 and Folsom with 46.

Let’s talk about the resale market:

Average Home Price

Based on data from Trendgraphix, the average home price in September for the 4-County Region was essentially flat at $665,000. That’s up just 0.2% compared to last month and an decrease of 1.3% from September of ‘23.

This is one of the headlines I’m going to myth bust at the end, so stick around for that.

Average Price Per Square Foot

The average price per square foot in the region was up slightly, just 0.6% to $343, compared to August and down 0.3% from this same period last year.

Number of Homes Sold

In September, a total of 1,347 homes were sold, an decrease of 18% from August and down 4.1% from this time last year. Pending sales were up 6.3% compared to last month and are up a whopping 28% from September of last year.

Months of Inventory

Inventory is continuing to increase and now sits at 2.6 months. This is still a seller’s market, but buyers are gaining more strength as more choice is available on the market.

With inventories slightly rising, effective marketing and proper pricing strategies are critical right now. If you’re a Seller, make sure you’ve chosen an experienced professional to properly market and sell your home.

If you’re a buyer, the same goes for you. Hiring a professional in this market is more critical than ever, especially when the market is flooded with part-time amateurs.

Mortgage Rate Stats

Rates dropped after the Fed dropped the Fed funds rate 50 basis points, but have ticked back up as we finished up the month. Builders are offering some amazing rate incentives on the limited inventory homes they have. We have a few you can get some great deals on right now, but those are going to disappear quickly given the current pace of new home sales.

Opinion

The interesting trend you will see in the sales price chart and what’s making headlines is the consistent decline in Listing prices since April of this year. These were all the homeowners that didn’t listen to their real estate professionals and thought their home was the best on the market and tried to get an unrealistic price.

So when you hear about declines in the market, that’s where it is. Now look at the line below. That line reflects the price homes are selling at.  That line is relatively flat to increasing during that same time period. That’s the actual market in Sacramento.

So when you see the headline of a declining market in Sacramento it’s a clickbait headline from the media. The truth is prices are continuing to rise at a steady rate and the market is good.

Closing

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Please make sure to like this video, subscribe, and hit the notification bell so you never miss a market update. I’m Christopher Brown with NEXT Real Estate Group and Next New Homes Group. See you next month!