BY TONY BIZJAK
A spacious Rocklin home sits on the market for weeks with no offers. At the same time, a tiny bungalow in South Land Park gets 14 offers immediately.
What gives?
The Sacramento real estate market has officially softened. Buyers are choosy, seemingly picking well-kept and well-priced homes in desirable neighborhoods, and taking a pass on homes that come in over-priced or in need of fixing.
Home sales have dropped 18 percent in the Sacramento region in September compared to the same month the year before – making this the lowest September sales since 2011, according to new data from CoreLogic, a real estate data consultancy.
Homes are still selling, and sellers are often getting their asking prices, but it’s become a hit-or-miss moment for sellers.
“The market is stabilizing,” said Paula Swayne, an agent with Dunnigan, Realtors. “Hopefully, we are (entering) an equitable market for buyer and seller. If priced right, you’ll get an offer or two in the first two weeks.”
“I like this market better, to be honest,” Swayne said. “Everybody wins.”
Swayne scored the 14-offer sale in Land Park last month – a sale she says that shows even though buyers are cautious, the market is not dead, and that a neatly kept, moderately priced home in a good neighborhood will sell fast and at asking price or higher.
Her Land Park home was particularly compelling. Tiny, at 900 square feet, it was in great shape in a coveted neighborhood and came at a rare sub-$300,000 price.
At the same time, a six-bedroom Rocklin house went unsold even though buyers dropped their price last month to $538,000. It is now off the market.
Barbara Lebrecht of the Galster Real Estate Group said the home was competing against a “glut of inventory in a small suburban area where new homes are being built … and buyers have a lot of choice.”
Local real estate analysts Ryan Lundquist said the local home-buying market is in a lull moment, but that’s not unusual for this time of year, and “not so painfully dull that buyers aren’t making offers.”
His analysis shows that 40 percent of September home sales had multiple offers. It’s happening, though, on houses that are in very good shape, he said.
“Buyers are more sensitive. They want a better housing product. We are in an age when granite and quartz (counter tops) are normal. What buyers want is that move-in condition when possible.”
The Sacramento regional trend mirrors what is happening around California in the last four months.
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