February Sales
February was a cold wet month for county home sales. It was a good month for Presidential Birthdays but there was nothing to celebrate about the real estate market during the short month. The El Dorado County Board of Realtors reported only 109 closed residential sales. It was the slowest sales month since January of 1997. Our best February was in 2005 with nearly twice the monthly sales at 195 sales. This last month was the slowest. The median selling price of a county home, however, seems to be holding.
The $495,000 median selling price was 13 percent higher than February of 2006 and 10 percent higher than January of this year. Lifting the median price were 15 home sales in excess of $750,000 and nine of the 15 home sales were over a million dollars. The most popular price brackets, however, with 12 sales in each were between $400,000- $450,000 and $500,000-$550,000.
Too many homes available for the number of buyers continues to depress our real estate market. An evenly balanced market between buyers and sellers has been commonly defined by a six-month supply of housing inventory. During February of 2005 we had a four-month supply of available listings. This last month, available inventory has grown to over a years supply. There are currently 1,350 homes for sale in the county, more than this time last year.
El Dorado Hills leads the county in the number of listings at 423 and the number of monthly sales at 45. The area accounted for thirty-one percent of all county homes listed and forty-one percent of all sales. While the average price of $705,500 was nearly the same from a year ago the number of monthly sales jumped by a third.
Cameron Park, with 156 homes for sale, reported only 12 sales, half as many as in February of 2006 but the average cumulative price of $464,500 was $23,000 higher. The greater Placerville area has 135 homes on the market, 11sold in February for an average price of $346,000. El Dorado/Diamond Springs currently has 70 homes for sale. Of the seven that sold last month, 4 were over $700,000 pushing the average selling price to $637,000. Pollock Pines/Sly Park has 117 homes listed, 9 sold last month for an average price of $343,500.
Of the 85 homes for sale in Georgetown, Garden Valley and Greenwood only 5 closed escrow last month. The average price of $338,500 was a declined of $12,000 from a year ago. Cool/Pilot Hill has 65 homes for sale, only 2 closed escrow with an average price of $438,000.
The current debate among industry professionals centers around how long county home prices can hold or continue to increase, in light of weak sales activity. Would sales increase if prices declined or would the general market malaise continue regardless of more affordable homes? Higher-end homebuyers don’t appear to be hesitating on making a home buying decision. Since the first of the year, 15 percent of all home sales were in excess of $700,000.
Spring can’t come soon enough for the 1,000 Realtor members of the local Board. Membership has declined by 200 since December. There are now nine times as many Realtors as there are home sales.
With a record number of homes to chooses from, interest rates around six percent and sellers willing to deal, one would think that home buyers would recognize the opportunity not previously available since 1999. Nope, not during the month of February.
The $495,000 median selling price was 13 percent higher than February of 2006 and 10 percent higher than January of this year. Lifting the median price were 15 home sales in excess of $750,000 and nine of the 15 home sales were over a million dollars. The most popular price brackets, however, with 12 sales in each were between $400,000- $450,000 and $500,000-$550,000.
Too many homes available for the number of buyers continues to depress our real estate market. An evenly balanced market between buyers and sellers has been commonly defined by a six-month supply of housing inventory. During February of 2005 we had a four-month supply of available listings. This last month, available inventory has grown to over a years supply. There are currently 1,350 homes for sale in the county, more than this time last year.
El Dorado Hills leads the county in the number of listings at 423 and the number of monthly sales at 45. The area accounted for thirty-one percent of all county homes listed and forty-one percent of all sales. While the average price of $705,500 was nearly the same from a year ago the number of monthly sales jumped by a third.
Cameron Park, with 156 homes for sale, reported only 12 sales, half as many as in February of 2006 but the average cumulative price of $464,500 was $23,000 higher. The greater Placerville area has 135 homes on the market, 11sold in February for an average price of $346,000. El Dorado/Diamond Springs currently has 70 homes for sale. Of the seven that sold last month, 4 were over $700,000 pushing the average selling price to $637,000. Pollock Pines/Sly Park has 117 homes listed, 9 sold last month for an average price of $343,500.
Of the 85 homes for sale in Georgetown, Garden Valley and Greenwood only 5 closed escrow last month. The average price of $338,500 was a declined of $12,000 from a year ago. Cool/Pilot Hill has 65 homes for sale, only 2 closed escrow with an average price of $438,000.
The current debate among industry professionals centers around how long county home prices can hold or continue to increase, in light of weak sales activity. Would sales increase if prices declined or would the general market malaise continue regardless of more affordable homes? Higher-end homebuyers don’t appear to be hesitating on making a home buying decision. Since the first of the year, 15 percent of all home sales were in excess of $700,000.
Spring can’t come soon enough for the 1,000 Realtor members of the local Board. Membership has declined by 200 since December. There are now nine times as many Realtors as there are home sales.
With a record number of homes to chooses from, interest rates around six percent and sellers willing to deal, one would think that home buyers would recognize the opportunity not previously available since 1999. Nope, not during the month of February.
posted by Ken Calhoon at 7:43 AM
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