Sacramento County home sales took off in December, sort of
Sales of all homes in Sacramento County in December totaled 2,186, a whopping 31.4 percent spike from November and the strongest year-end showing in seven years, according to Irvine-based market researcher CoreLogic.
However, there is a caveat.
CoreLogic analyst Andrew LePage said sales that normally would have closed in November were delayed “by days or weeks” by new federal mortgage rules that took effect in October.
“It’s normal for the number of sales recorded to increase between November and December, but the gain was much larger than usual” due to the impact of the federal rules, LePage said.
Even so, there was ample evidence of a sound housing market in December, despite local agents’ claims of limited inventory.
Sales of existing homes in Sacramento County totaled 1,776 last month, up 21 percent from 2014. The median sales price of existing homes in December was $280,000, up nearly 11 percent from $252,750 in December 2014.
LePage stressed that the December 2015 numbers were “still well under peak levels from the last housing boom.” For perspective, the countywide median resale price in August 2005 was $372,000.
The median is point at which half the homes cost more and half cost less.
Among all homes – including new and resale homes and condos – sold last month in Sacramento County, the median sales price was $290,000, the highest for any month since 2007.
LePage said it “looks like a relatively heavy concentration of new-home sales helped push Sacramento’s overall median sale price” to the eight-year high.
There were 257 new home sales in Sacramento County last month, up sharply from 166 the month before and from 158 in December 2014. The median sales price of new homes closing in December was $397,500, up 2.6 percent from $387,500 in December 2014.
LePage said the new federal mortgage rules produced similar results throughout the Golden State.
CoreLogic said 7,876 new and existing houses and condominiums sold in the nine-county Bay Area last month, up 26.5 percent from 6,224 in November and up 17.4 percent from 6,709 a year earlier.
In the six-county Southern California region, 20,890 new and previously owned houses and condominiums sold in December, a spike of 33 percent from November and up nearly 10 percent from a year ago.
Mark Glover: 916-321-1184, @markhglover
Sacramento region December 2015 home sales
Dec-15 sales | Yr/yr %change | Dec-15 median sales price | Yr/yr % change | |
Resale detached | ||||
Amador* | 64 | 12.3% | $239,100 | 19.6% |
El Dorado | 229 | 0.9% | $375,000 | 13.3% |
Nevada | 181 | 27.5% | $380,000 | 15.2% |
Placer | 582 | 2.8% | $385,000 | 0.8% |
Sacramento | 1,776 | 21.0% | $280,000 | 10.8% |
Sutter | 87 | 1.2% | $214,000 | 14.4% |
Yolo | 166 | 32.8% | $340,500 | 7.1% |
Yuba | 89 | 11.3% | $211,750 | 14.5% |
Resale condos | ||||
Amador | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
El Dorado | 2 | n/a | $215,000 | n/a |
Nevada | 10 | -25.0% | $130,000 | -59.0% |
Placer | 48 | 15.9% | $245,000 | -3.0% |
Sacramento | 153 | 17.3% | $173,600 | 24.0% |
Sutter | 2 | 33.3% | $123,000 | -41.4% |
Yolo | 10 | -45.5% | $156,500 | -26.2% |
Yuba | 1 | -100.0% | $29,000 | -42.0% |
New homes* | ||||
Amador | 0 | n/a | n/a | n/a |
El Dorado | 51 | 142.9% | $585,000 | 1.4% |
Nevada | 5 | -37.5% | $480,000 | 36.4% |
Placer | 170 | 18.1% | $462,500 | 2.3% |
Sacramento | 257 | 62.7% | $397,500 | 2.6% |
Sutter | 1 | -75.0% | $384,500 | 5.0% |
Yolo | 42 | 23.5% | $504,500 | 19.9% |
Yuba | 23 | 283.3% | $286,000 | 3.2% |
All homes | ||||
Amador | 64 | 12.3% | $239,100 | 19.6% |
El Dorado | 282 | 13.7% | $415,000 | 20.3% |
Nevada | 196 | 25.6% | $380,000 | 15.3% |
Placer | 800 | 7.7% | $404,500 | 2.7% |
Sacramento | 2,186 | 22.6% | $290,000 | 13.7% |
Sutter | 90 | -1.1% | $213,000 | 7.4% |
Yolo | 218 | 26.7% | $371,000 | 9.1% |
Yuba | 113 | 29.9% | $241,000 | 27.8% |
*Includes condos
Source: CoreLogic
This story was originally published January 20, 2016 at 12:10 PM with the headline "Sacramento County home sales took off in December, sort of."