Closed escrow sales of existing, single-family detached homes in California totaled a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 283,540 in February, according to information collected by the California Association of Realtors.
According to the association, the statewide annualized sales figure represents what would be the total number of homes sold during 2025 if sales maintained the February pace throughout the year. It is adjusted to account for seasonal factors that typically influence home sales.
February’s sales pace surged 11.6% from the 254,110 homes sold in January and was up 2.6% from a year ago, when a revised 276,280 homes were sold on an annualized basis. The February sales level was the highest since October 2022, the association reported.
Closer to home, as we reported last week, February sales were a different story in western Nevada County.
“February home sales followed right the stumbling footsteps of January, leaving western Nevada County’s real estate market on the precipice of its slowest first quarter since 2009,” the latest edition of our Nevada County Real Estate Update reported.
Statewide it was good news, and bad news, depending on the county.
“Twenty-three of the 53 counties tracked by C.A.R. posted sales increases from a year ago, with nearly half of them (11 counties) posting sales surges of more than 10 percent on a year-over-year basis,” the report states. “Calaveras (35.5%) registered the biggest sales jump from February 2023, followed by Imperial (33.3%), and Amador (21.9%).
“Home sales decreased from last year in 27 counties, with 14 of them posting declines of more than 10% and five counties of more than 20%. Tehama (-43.5%) registered the biggest sales drop in February, followed by Trinity (-28.6%) and Tuolumne (-24.1%). With spring storms hitting hard in some of these counties in February, weather conditions could be a reason for the drop in home sales last month for those areas.”
Although statewide home sales have rebounded strongly, the report says, they have remained below the 300,000 mark since September 2022.
“With uncertainty remaining the theme for at least the first half of this year, housing sentiment could be negatively impacted, and home sales, as a result, could remain soft in the upcoming months,” the report states.
Statewide pending sales in February dipped from last year’s level for the third consecutive month, but the drop was much smaller than the decline observed in January, the association reports. The sales dip of homes in escrow could be due in part to a jump in mortgage rates at the beginning of February, but the public’s growing concern of a recession may also have played a role in the slowdown in housing demand in recent weeks. The ongoing policy and economic uncertainties have been weighing on consumer confidence and have created instability in the financial market in the past few weeks. With mortgage rates expected to remain volatile in the near term, pending sales could continue to fluctuate as the market enters the spring homebuying season.
“California home sales rebounded strongly in February after a sluggish start to the year, supported by increased buyer activity and more available homes on the market,” said association President Heather Ozur, a Palm Springs Realtor. “Lower borrowing costs made homeownership more accessible to buyers who were previously sidelined by affordability challenges, while the rise in available inventory will help ease some of the competitive pressures that have defined the market in recent years and set a positive tone for the market for the rest of the year.”
Read the California Association of Realtors monthly home sales and price report for the full story, and previous editions of its statewide reporting.
