Existing Home sales in Yolo County remain worse than sluggish, but prices seem to be holding steady. While August saw a drop of almost 35% in the number of existing homes sold, the median price fell just 1% from where it was a year ago. Good news for homeowners in the area.
The number of new homes sold in August fell 13% from last year and was actually up substantially from the low in July. This was no doubt spurred by the price cuts and promotional offers made by new home builders with excess inventory. tThe median price for new homes was also down 13%.
Sellers can still find a willing buyer, but the home must be priced right to sell quickly. If buyers thinks the seller is asking too much, they move on quickly to find a more motivated seller.
As Sellers came to terms with reality, they started to lower asking prices in order to spur sales. Over the summer (from April to August), the total number of homes sold each month has actually increased, but at a cost. The median home price has dropped almost $30,000 during that time.
This reflects the impact of two types of sellers in the Davis real estate market. One is the the relocating seller (frequently a family) that appears during the summer, eager to sell and get relocated to another town before the start of the school year. The second is the investor in student rental housing. These davis homes tend to come on the market after the end of the academic year at UC Davis, when students return home or graduate and move on.
The two combine to bring an influx of homes on to the market in the May to August time frame. These are motivated sellers working against a time deadline, or they are investors, frequently absentee owners, that don't have an emotional attachement to the property and just want to get out of the investment and can be flexible with the price. This results in the drop in median prices realized over the summer combined with an increase in total escrows closed.
The market should firm up as fall arrives and the summer relocation, or dislocation comes to an end.
