Lake County Association of Realtors announces home sales for December

>> Over the month of December: Total homes sold through the multiple listing service: 70, compared to 98 during the same time last year. These include traditionally built “stick-built” houses as well as manufactured homes on land. There were four sales of mobile homes in parks compared to two for the same time last year, and 15 bare land (lots and acreage) sales, compared with 31 for the same time last year.

There are 298 “stick built” and manufactured homes on the market right now. If the rate of sales stays the same at 70 homes sold per month, there are currently 4.26 months of inventory on the market at the moment compared to 5.45 months of inventory a month ago. That means that if no new homes are brought to the market for sale, in 4.26 months all of these homes would be sold and there would be none available. Less than six months of inventory is generally considered to be a “sellers’ market” while more than six months of inventory is often called a “buyers’ market. The inventory has been growing over the past several months, with more homes being brought to market and staying on the market for a longer time with fewer buyers. The interest rate hikes and inflation have played a major role in reducing the number of active buyers.

Total percentage of homes bought for all cash in December: 33% (compared to 15% for this same time last year; 44% were financed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (“conventional loans”) compared to 51% for the same time last year; 10% were financed by FHA (compared to 21% for this time last year); and 4% were financed by the VA or CalVet (compared to four percent for this time last year) six percent had other financing such as private loans or seller financed notes (compared to seven pecent last year at this time).

The homes were selling at an average of 95% of the asking price. The median time on the market last month was 54 days, compared to 30 days for this time last year and 49 days last month. The median sale price of a single family home in Lake County in December was $295,000, lower than the median sale price of $332,500 during this time period last year.

In December, 30% of homes sold had seller concessions for an average of $7,614; a year ago 23% of homes sold had an average seller concession of $7,511.