August sales
Over the last 10 years, home sales during the month of August in El Dorado County average about 250. August of 2004 was the best sales month in recorded history with 319 reported sales and last month with only 170 was the slowest. With nearly 1,800 homes currently listed for sale, our sales rate is only nine percent. August of 1997 had 9 fewer sales than last month but the number of homes for sale at the time was half the current inventory.
The number of new monthly listings is exasperating the situation. Last month 443 new “for sale” signs went up in front yards. Since April, nearly 2,500 homes have been listed for sale. The county currently has a ten-month supply of homes for sale and at our current monthly new listing rate of 400 plus, we will have a year’s supply by November. It will be a long, cold, wet winter for sellers and their agents.
Monthly housing sales have declined 36 percent from last year and no community is exempt from the wait-and-see attitude of potential buyers. El Dorado Hills currently has 524 homes for sale and last month reported 53 sales. Cameron Park has 228 homes looking for buyers but only 18-closed escrow. The communities of Placerville, El Dorado and Diamond Springs have 300 homes for sale and 35 sales last month. Camino/Cedar Grove and Pollock Pines collectively have 250 homes for sale and reported only 22 sales. Cool, Pilot Hill, Garden Valley and Georgetown have 180 homes listed and only 10 reported monthly sales.
Vacant land sales are even more anemic. There are currently 750 vacant land parcels listed in the county. Twenty-one sold last month. A year earlier 75 to 100 monthly sales were more typical. Land prices are falling. Last year the average parcel sold for $285,000. Last month the average was $236,500. Potential land buyers are finding it less expensive to buy a home than build a new one and investors have disappeared from the landscape.
The bright spot in an otherwise lackluster sales month continues to be the median and average selling price. While Sacramento and Placer counties report falling home prices, El Dorado home prices continue to defy gravity. Sacramento County’s median selling price dropped 4 percent in the last year and Placer County’s median selling price declined 12 percent, down to $460,000 last month. Increasing home prices in El Dorado County are an anomaly in the region.
The average selling price of the 170 residential sales last month was $575,000, a healthy $50,000 above August of 2005. If the home was located in El Dorado Hills the price tag was averaging $742,000, up from last year’s $685,000. Cameron Park’s average home sale was $517,500, up from $496,000 and the average price of the 5 homes that sold in Shingle Springs at $831,000 was $115,000 higher than a year ago.
A few communities did witness price declines. Pollock Pine/Sly Park reported 17 monthly sales and a price drop from $422,500, a year earlier to $377,000 last month. Camino/Cedar Grove had 11 sales and prices dipped from $457,000 to $436,600. Cool/Pilot Hill reported only 5 monthly sales down from 15 in August of 2005 with the average price dropping from $499,000 to $477,500.
A factor propping up the statistical average and median selling price is the number of million dollar home sales. Last month, 14 homes sold for excess of a million dollars. The percentage of sales above a million dollars is actually very good. With 80 county homes listed above $1 million, the chances of selling is 17 percent while the county’s average monthly selling rate is 9 percent. So if your house isn’t selling, raise the price above a million and your odds of getting an offer will increase…….. at least statistically.
The number of new monthly listings is exasperating the situation. Last month 443 new “for sale” signs went up in front yards. Since April, nearly 2,500 homes have been listed for sale. The county currently has a ten-month supply of homes for sale and at our current monthly new listing rate of 400 plus, we will have a year’s supply by November. It will be a long, cold, wet winter for sellers and their agents.
Monthly housing sales have declined 36 percent from last year and no community is exempt from the wait-and-see attitude of potential buyers. El Dorado Hills currently has 524 homes for sale and last month reported 53 sales. Cameron Park has 228 homes looking for buyers but only 18-closed escrow. The communities of Placerville, El Dorado and Diamond Springs have 300 homes for sale and 35 sales last month. Camino/Cedar Grove and Pollock Pines collectively have 250 homes for sale and reported only 22 sales. Cool, Pilot Hill, Garden Valley and Georgetown have 180 homes listed and only 10 reported monthly sales.
Vacant land sales are even more anemic. There are currently 750 vacant land parcels listed in the county. Twenty-one sold last month. A year earlier 75 to 100 monthly sales were more typical. Land prices are falling. Last year the average parcel sold for $285,000. Last month the average was $236,500. Potential land buyers are finding it less expensive to buy a home than build a new one and investors have disappeared from the landscape.
The bright spot in an otherwise lackluster sales month continues to be the median and average selling price. While Sacramento and Placer counties report falling home prices, El Dorado home prices continue to defy gravity. Sacramento County’s median selling price dropped 4 percent in the last year and Placer County’s median selling price declined 12 percent, down to $460,000 last month. Increasing home prices in El Dorado County are an anomaly in the region.
The average selling price of the 170 residential sales last month was $575,000, a healthy $50,000 above August of 2005. If the home was located in El Dorado Hills the price tag was averaging $742,000, up from last year’s $685,000. Cameron Park’s average home sale was $517,500, up from $496,000 and the average price of the 5 homes that sold in Shingle Springs at $831,000 was $115,000 higher than a year ago.
A few communities did witness price declines. Pollock Pine/Sly Park reported 17 monthly sales and a price drop from $422,500, a year earlier to $377,000 last month. Camino/Cedar Grove had 11 sales and prices dipped from $457,000 to $436,600. Cool/Pilot Hill reported only 5 monthly sales down from 15 in August of 2005 with the average price dropping from $499,000 to $477,500.
A factor propping up the statistical average and median selling price is the number of million dollar home sales. Last month, 14 homes sold for excess of a million dollars. The percentage of sales above a million dollars is actually very good. With 80 county homes listed above $1 million, the chances of selling is 17 percent while the county’s average monthly selling rate is 9 percent. So if your house isn’t selling, raise the price above a million and your odds of getting an offer will increase…….. at least statistically.
posted by Ken Calhoon at 2:55 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home