Email Elizabethsacramento real estate market report
November 2020 Sacramento Area Housing Market Update
July 2020 Sacramento County Housing Market Update
July 2020 Sacramento County housing market update written by Josh Amolsch, is a terrific post, very informative, ENJOY!
Come January 2021, we may look back at the year 2020 and conclude that “unprecedented” was the word of the year. I can think of a few more words too, but that would be for a different blog. That word comes in to play for the July 2020 Sacramento housing market update in a couple of areas. But the driving factor here is nothing new. Inventory is the culprit of rising prices. Take a look at the Month of Inventory for July 2020. I could not find one instance in the last 15 years when the Months of Inventory was at .7 months except for July 2020. Unprecedented. This is down 46.5% from July 2019. Sacramento’s real estate has proven to be very strong during the COVID-era. Stronger than ever, in fact.
Did you hear that one about the 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaging 2.88% for the week ending August 6th, according to Freddie Mac? Yeah, insane. I have talked to a few people over the last week or so who are waiting to buy “when there is a dip in the market.” Well, a dip may come.
But no one I know sees that happening anytime soon, and I hang out and know some of the best Realtors and Lenders Sacramento has ever seen. Check out the Median Home Price in this July 2020 Sacramento county housing market update. Up 8.5% from July 2019 to $423,000. Unprecedented. We have hit four records for Median Home Price in Sacramento county this year.
How to Find Sacramento’s Hidden Inventory “Pocket Listings”
As we roll into a very hot spring real estate market, one way to find a home is to seek Sacramento’s hidden inventory “pocket listings.” I did just that when looking in the Boulevard Park area of Midtown Sacramento. A long term client of over 21 years was looking for a home in the area. She had now, of course, become a dear friend. When we were house hunting, it became quickly apparent there were so few homes for sale in this area.
I called an agent in Midtown who works Boulevard Park and he had lived in the area for many years. Mentioned I was looking for something updated about 2400 square feet. There was nothing like this in the MLS. He said he actually had clients who had talked about selling, let me ring them. They were away on vacation in a very exotic place in the world at the time.
He had a key and they said go ahead and show it, we are willing to sell for the right price. I took my clients there and they loved it. A beautiful updated single-story with a cute yard where they could entertain. This home looked like it was in an architectural storybook magazine. It had stained glass leaded windows and a basement that would make a terrific wine cellar. In the back was a common area off an alley. The streets in front have an island running down the middle with grass and trees, it is just a lovely neighborhood.
Our excited buyers wrote an offer, and the seller’s agent, a wonderful man and a terrific agent, presented and the seller accepted. This was an example of Sacramento’s hidden inventory “pocket listings”. By definition, it means a potential listing in my pocket, that is not actively listed on the market. It takes a willing buyer, a willing home owner and real estate agents who can put a painless transaction together. We did just that.
The buyers and sellers bought each other a bottle of wine for the final walkthrough, and it was a wonderful transaction. Simply no stress as each side wanted the best for each other and it was such a win-win. The seller’s agent drew what is called a one-party listing agreement, good for only my clients, and we closed escrow! If only all transactions went this well.
I wrote a blog yesterday called searching for a home is like an Easter egg hunt. Hunting for pocket listings means we call every agent we know and maybe some we don’t, to ask if they have any of Sacramento’s hidden inventory “pocket listings.” You basically find a listing where there wasn’t one!
Being resourceful and helping clients is what being a top producer is all about. If you are having a challenging time finding the home of your dreams, call Weintraub & Wallace Realtors, powered by RE/MAX Gold and caffeine. We usually have a few pocket listings coming up. In fact, we have several, one currently in Elk Grove and another in Natomas, so call us today! (916)-233-6759.
— JaCi Wallace
Finding the Address of an Off Market Sacramento Listing
Ask an agent to set up an MLS account for you to find new listings in Sacramento.
Inventory is so dramatically low in Sacramento — we have 1,735 active listings in the county at the moment — that buyer’s agents are contacting top listing agents to beg for details on an upcoming or off market Sacramento listing. They want to look at the home in Google maps or drive by or send their buyers to investigate, all before the home comes on the market. Some try to locate an old listing in the MLS archives with photographs or maybe they check Zillow where old photographs go to die.
I’m not gonna say they go so far as to park in front of the house and wait for the owners to leave for work, but it’s a possibility. They definitely want to peek in the windows. Be first. Get a glimpse. Trespass. They don’t think of it as trespassing or invading privacy because people are often too danged wrapped up in themselves and their own needs to care about how they appear to others or the consequences of their own actions. They live in the surreal world of “I want it, so it must be OK,” and they don’t give any of it a second thought.
Personally, I blame those parents and educators who tossed out awards like candy when the kids didn’t really deserve it. Because everybody in Johnny’s class is a winner! No, everybody is not a winner. Some kids are losers. Like Donald Trump, for example. Why they need to be instilled with grandiose ideas is beyond me, but I do know this, I am NOT disclosing an address of a new listing unless my sellers authorize it, and no sellers do. An off market Sacramento listing is just that, off market.
Well, except for my Elizabeth Weintraub Team members. I do share information with them. They work closely with buyers.
Negative Housing Inventory Fuels Push for Off Market Sacramento Listing
It’s not for any of the reasons some agents might presume. I do not disclose off market addresses to protect my sellers’ privacy. It’s rough enough to go on the market and be bombarded by calls to show, agents who traipse through and leave on lights, doors unlocked, flipped-up duvet covers because they were crawling around and looking under the bed for whatever reason. It’s an inconvenience, albeit for a short period of time.
We don’t need the advantages of Coming Soon in Sacramento this spring. It’s already crazy enough.
We Have More Homes Pending Than Homes for Sale in Sacramento County
We have 1,928 listings pending in the county of Sacramento today. That’s more than the number of homes we have for sale (see first paragraph). Do the math. It means we’re at a negative for “months of inventory” as compared to the pending sales. The median days on market for 3-bedroom pending sales is 10. The average days on market for 3-bedroom pendings is 27. Nobody is gonna get a jumpstart on an off market Sacramento listing until it goes on the market.
Then everybody can fight over it. Maximum exposure, maximum profit for my sellers. That’s what I care about.
If you’re interested in talking about selling your home in the greater Sacramento area, I work as a top producer and cover 4 counties. I pay attention to detail and offer personalized service. Call Elizabeth Weintraub at 916.233.6759.
