Real estate: Inventory shrinks, prices climb
The housing market grew evermore strong for sellers in September as the amount of single-family homes on the market in Humboldt County continued to fall and prices continued to rise.
On Sept. 15, there were 284 homes on the market in the county, down from 314 on the same day in August. In September 2019, there were nearly twice as many homes on the market, 566.
The absorption rate, or rate at which all active listings would be sold if no new ones were added, was 2.55 (two and onehalf months) in September, down from 2.91 (nearly three months) in August.
On Tuesday, Kessler Team realtor Scott Stephens told the TimesStandard there were just 199 homes for sale in the county that day. He said that number translates to an absorption rate of less than two months (1.78), although an official rate will be available in next month’s report for October.
September’s absorption rate is the lowest Stephens has ever seen.
“Everything is continuing in a downward trend,” Stephens said. “The numbers for new and sold listings are practically mirroring each other right now. Everything coming onto the market is being sold quickly and there is not enough new inventory to balance it.”
The median number of days a home stayed on the market in September dipped to 11 days, down from 15 in August and from 19 in September 2019.
Soaring demand and plummeting inventory sent prices ever higher in September. The median sale price of a home in the county was $345,000, up $10,000 from August. September’s median sale price was the same as it was in the same month in 2019.
However, September’s median list price for all homes, $369,250, was $20,000 higher than what it was in the same month in 2019. The median list prices for new homes on the market in September was $380,000.
The shrinking housing market has allowed new homes coming onto the market to be listed for more than they typically would
be worth according to Stephens, who said the inflation has made it tough to give purchasers an accurate picture of what they are buying.
“The hardest thing for me to do right now as a Realtor is to answer the question of what a home is worth versus what its price is,” Stephens said. “The
rules aren’t the same anymore right now. With the high demand, higher-thannormal list prices and multiple offers being made on a home, it’s tough to advise clients on what to do — we don’t have a crystal ball.”
Single-family residences are not the only area of local real estate feeling the trend of shrinking inventory and rising prices.
The number of pieces of land for purchase in the county is around two-thirds of what it was a year ago.
There were 285 pieces of land for sale in September, down from 389 from the same month in 2019.
The absorption rate for land in the county is just over 20 months, down from just over 30 months a year ago. The median days a piece of land stayed on the market was 70 in September, down two-fold from what it was (143) a year ago.
The California Association of Realtors’ September report reflected local trends.
“In September, the statewide median home price was $712,430, up 0.8% from August and up 17.6 percent from September 2019 … September sales rose 5.2% from 465,400 in August and were up 21.2% from a year ago, when 404,030 homes were sold on an annualized basis … Active listings in every price range continued to decline sharply from last year, with for-sale properties priced below $1 million falling 56 percent on a year-over-year basis.”