SACRAMENTO, Calif. — With mortgage rates more than doubling in recent months, the Sacramento area's hot housing market is starting to cool.
"I think the big headline here is that the market has done a 180 from that super hot, sizzling market from the past, and we're in a different territory," said Ryan Lundquist, a Sacramento-based appraiser and housing analyst.
Lundquist points to housing data which shows November 2022 will be the lowest month of sales for November in the past two decades. Volume is down 46% from the pre-pandemic average.
"Even worse than 2007," Lundquist said. "And that sounds so dramatic, but it's true, because what we're seeing is some buyers have disappeared from the market," said Lundquist.
Meanwhile, pandemic price gains are slipping.
Median home prices surged $185,000 from March 2020 to May 2022. From May to November of this year, that has slipped by $75,000.
"Sellers might feel pain, but I think buyers are in a place where they're eyeing the market with a little bit of hope thinking, 'OK, this could be my time eventually,'" Lundquist said.
While there will be pain for some, Lundquist sees the changes in the air as the housing market correcting.
"I think it's a painful process to go through but it's a necessary one if we want to come out and if I want to see my kids be able to stay in California and afford the market, right?" Lundquist said.
WATCH ALSO:
