Heading to the final month of 2022’s fourth quarter, the volume of western Nevada County home sales slid for the third consecutive month with the number sold in November down 15.1% from the prior month and 33.8% off from November 2021.
In fact, the 84 homes sold in November marks the lowest number of monthly transactions in western county since April 2020, when a total of 80 sales were completed as most of the world was shutting down due to Covid-19.
Compared to the all-out blitz of sales following that first month of the pandemic, and continuing through 2021, the current sales pace has offered prospective buyers more time to find their dream home and also has likely helped bring down the price they pay for it.
The median price of a home sold locally in November was $519,950, according to Multiple Listing Services statistics. That’s a 0.9% decrease from the $525,000 median price recorded in September and October, and down 12.2% from the all-time high median price of $592,500 recorded in April of this year.
One year ago, the median price of a home sold locally, in November 2021, was $560,000.
Western Nevada County’s median sold price has not dipped below $500,000 since February of 2021, when a median price of $490,000 was recorded.
PERSPECTIVE ON PACE
There’s no question the majority of homes are spending more days on the market than the breakneck pace of sales seen in the prior two years, including the days on market in 2021 dipping to single digits with an eight-day average in May and nine-day average in April and June.
Last month, it took 29 days on average for seller’s to have an accepted offer on their listing. That’s up from 18 days in November 2021. For a pre-pandemic perspective, the average stay on the market for homes sold in November 2019 was 44 days and in November 2018 was 54 days.
At that time, buyers had substantially more homes to choose from locally, with 467 active listings in November 2018 and 444 homes on the market in 2019.
Last month’s inventory was 310 homes, down 14.3% from October though also 31.9% more than the 235 homes listed for sale in November 2021.
Low inventory not only has been one of the driving factors in shorter stays on the market, but also in the higher prices paid, particularly across 2020-2021. The lowest number of listings recorded during that time was December 2021, when 158 homes were on the market.
That same month saw 131 homes sold. We’ll soon see by year’s end how the current month’s inventory impacts both total sales and median price in the final month of the fourth quarter.
Brian Hamilton is a Realtor (DRE# 02149112) for the Betsy Hamilton Real Estate Team (DRE# 01936209) at RE/MAX Gold (DRE#: 01949144) in Grass Valley. For more information, contact him at Br***@Be***********.com.
