A History of Sacramento Home Prices

As I often get readers coming to the blog searching for historical charts of Sacramento home prices, I thought I'd throw this one up. Click on the chart for a better view. The chart shows median home prices in Sacramento County (and West Sacramento) since 1987 and is based on data from the Sacramento Association of Realtors. Also included on the graph are some key indicators such as inventory, affordability, employment, and foreclosures.

Another Price Milestone: Price Per Square Foot Breeches the -20% Threshold

According to TrendGraphix's latest report [pdf], the average price paid per square foot in Sacramento County dropped to $203 in September, a 20.1% decrease from its peak in September 2005.



Here's a look at MLS inventory in the Sacramento (4-county) region. Inventory continues to expand on a year-over-year basis, according to TrendGraphix figures provided by the Sacramento Bee.

Mid-Year Graph-o-rama

It's time for this blogger to go on vacation. But before I leave, I thought I'd churn out these graphs for your viewing pleasure. Click on each graph to enlarge. As always, you can compare different price measurements here.

Sacramento Association of Realtors


Change from Peak: -$52,800


Change from Peak: -13.4%


YoY Change: -10.5% (1st Double-Digit Decline)
12th Consecutive Month of Price Declines YoY


YoY Change: -26.5%
v. June 2005: -55.1%
v. June 2004: -58.5% (boom sales peak)


California Association of Realtors


Change from Peak: -$42,830


Change from Peak: -10.9%


YoY Change: -8.5%
12th Consecutive Month of Price Declines YoY


27th Consecutive Month of Sales Declines YoY
22nd Consecutive Month of Double-Digit Declines YoY


DQNews


YoY Change: -11.2%
13th Consecutive Month of Price Declines YoY


Sacramento Bee (TrendGraphix)

Sacramento Bee: Record Inventory

From the Sacramento Bee:

The number of for-sale signs at existing homes reached a record 15,566 in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties, according to Sacramento-based TrendGraphix. Factor in 4,899 new and yet-to-be-sold homes reported by area builders in June and it pushes the total number of area houses for sale past 20,000.

Previous high: 15,474 (July 2006)
1990s high: 13,507 (April 1992)

Here's what readers think is in store for next year:

Real Estate Graphs 2.0

Sacramento Real Estate - Trulia

No more ugly static graphs! I've decided to outsource all my graph creation duties to the widget making wizards of Web 2.0. Behold the magically updating real estate statistics graph.

The first graph above is from Altos Research and shows the median asking price for homes in the city of Sacramento. You can find more graphs for Sacramento and other area cities on their website (link also on the sidebar). Graphs include days on market, price per square foot, and inventory. You can also add a median price graph widget to your own blog or website.

The last two graphs are from OSG's Hardtack (link also on the sidebar). They show the inventory of single family homes and condos for sale in the Sacramento region. You can find more inventory graphs as well as price data on Hardtack's website. The data is derived from real estate sites such as Realtor.com (which also powers Housing Tracker). Unlike Housing Tracker, Hardtack allows you to drill down to the city level.

Hardtack also lets you add a variety of inventory graphs to your blog or website using this great device. The tool allows customization by region, property type, and even chart dimensions. Now if only they had price graphs, perhaps I'd permanently retire. On second thought, perhaps I'll continue to subject you to my ugly Excel graphs. After all, we can't trust Hal, can we?

Months of Inventory

Sacramento Housing Market - Inventory

April inventory growth for the Sacramento region per the Sacramento Bee/TrendGraphix:

• Versus April 2006: +23.6%
• Versus March 2007: +12.2%

Here's a slightly different view of inventory. The graph below shows months of inventory or the number of months it would take to sell all inventory at the current sales pace. The data is derived from TrendGraphix, which tracks MLS inventory and sales. Unlike the graphs above, this graph is for Sacramento County only and contains data for August 2004 to March 2007.



The Average Buyer blog breaks down months of inventory by zip code here.

Sacramento Housing Market: Inventory

Sacramento Area Inventory Growth per SacBee/TrendGraphix:

Month-over-Month (March v. February)

2005: +6.9%
2006: +4.5%
2007: +9.6%

Year-over-Year (2007 v. 2006)
January: +18.4%
February: +15.5%
March: +20.6%

As always, you can get the latest Sacramento housing inventory statistics at these sites (also available on the right sidebar): BMIT, SacRealStats, Hardtack, and Housing Tracker (and here).

Highest February Inventory in Nearly 15 Years

"You've got this enormous amount of inventory ... and it will go down -- it will go down by spring, significantly."

~John Karevoll, DataQuick analyst, Sacramento Bee, December 31, 2006

According to TrendGraphix data published in the Sacramento Bee, inventory in February increased 15.6% from year ago levels and 4.4% since the beginning of the year. Other sources show inventory has continued to rise in March. It appears inventory has not declined "significantly" by spring.

From the Sacramento Bee:

Sacramento-based researcher TrendGraphix says 11,410 existing homes were for sale at February's end in El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento and Yolo counties, the month's highest tally in nearly 15 years.

This graph shows inventory of the 4-county area since February 2005. Click to enlarge.

July 2006 Inventory

Sacramento inventory continued to grow in July, albeit at a slower rate, according to several inventory tracking sites. Since the beginning of this year, inventory has grown by at least 72%.


Bubble Markets Inventory Tracking: 17,314
+5% (+809) in July
+72% (+7,235) in 2006

Housing Tracker: 12,023
+6% (+699) in July
+75% (+5,167) in 2006

The Sacramento Housing Bubble blog has not yet posted month end numbers. As of July 25th, the site showed inventory at 17,347. On July 28th, the Sacramento Real Estate Statistics blog measured inventory at 18,716.

This graph shows inventory for the Sacramento housing market as reported in the Sacramento Bee from February 2005 to June 2006. The July figure has not yet been released.


Sacramento Bee (for June): 14,611
+11% (+1,465) in June
+71% (+6,086) in 2006
+134% (+8,365) YOY (since June 2005)

(Note: These sites use different sources for their numbers. Please see the individual sites for more information on methodology and areas of coverage.)

June 2006 Inventory

Sacramento inventory continued its impressive upward trajectory, according to three inventory tracking sites. Since the beginning of this year, inventory has grown at least 62%.

Sacramento Housing Bubble:
5/31/2006: 14,822
6/30/2006: 16,329
+10% in June
+62% in 2006

Bubble Markets Inventory Tracking:
5/31/2006: 14,824
6/30/2006: 16,505
+11% in June
+64% in 2006

Housing Tracker:
6/1/2006: 10,087
7/1/2006: 11,324
+12% in June
+65% in 2006

(Note: The three sites use different sources for their numbers. Please see the individual sites for more information on methodology and areas of coverage.)

This graph shows housing inventory for the Sacramento housing market as reported in the Sacramento Bee since February 2005. The June number will be included when it becomes available.


For more inventory fun, check out the Sacramento Real Estate Statistics blog.

May 2006 Inventory

Inventory growth accelerated in May, posting the largest month-to-month gain for 2006, according to three inventory tracking sites. So far housing inventory has grown at least 47% in 2006.

Sacramento Housing Bubble:
4/30/2006: 12,754
5/31/2006: 14,822
+16% in May
+47% in 2006

Bubble Markets Inventory Tracking:
4/30/2006: 12,989
5/31/2006: 14,824
+14% in May
+47% in 2006

Housing Tracker:
5/1/2006: 8,914
6/1/2006: 10,087
+13% in May
+47% in 2006

Sacbee.com:
4/2006: 11,344
5/2006: 13,146
+16% in May
+54% in 2006
+149% in one year

(Note: The four sites use different sources for their numbers. Please see the individual sites for more information on methodology and areas of coverage.)

This graph shows housing inventory for the Sacramento housing market as reported in the Sacramento Bee since February 2005. If that's not enough inventory info for you, the Sacramento Real Estate Statistics blog breaks down the inventory data by price range.

Local Closeup: Davis Inventory

Commenter Fishtaco sent in this chart that shows Davis MLS inventory since the end of January. The data is derived from the Sacbee website using all prices ranges with no limits (no land or multiplexes). "From the open houses I have been to realtors have said the listings are up anywhere from 70-100% YOY."

Feel free to submit information about your local housing market. Photos, graphs, or observations are much appreciated.