Summer officially ends on September 23rd, but kids are back to school and the weather has just started to cool off. It’s been a super busy summer for appraisers in Nevada County. Low interest rates and lots of equity has kept myself and other local appraisers plenty busy this summer.

I’ve heard whispers from homeowners and Realtors that they think the market may be softening a little. Driving around, I see more and more for sale signs and open houses. I thought it would be a good idea to check the stats and see how the summer has played out compared to last year.

In terms of volume, sales were down 6% from last year during June-July-August. As of 9/1 there were 635 properties on the market in Nevada County, which is a 5.4 months supply based on the average monthly sales in 2019. This is considered a very balanced market. Marketing times are running slightly higher than last year.

Although sales were down 6% for June-July-August, overall the monthly sales volume in 2019 are very similar to 2018. Year-to-date sales are down 3.8% from 2018. A slightly elevated supply and difficulty obtaining fire insurance has done little to affect sales volume. We can expect a drop in sales in September, which is typical for this time of year. I relate this directly to the beginning of the school year; parents rarely want to move a child right after a new year has begun. In 2018, sales picked right back up in October before slowing to close out the year.

Nevada County Median Monthly Sales Price Graph.png

Nevada County Average Monthly Sales Price Graph.png

Average and median prices have remained stable in 2018 and 2019. While the market for each home can be vastly different, overall for Nevada County, the market is stable. If you purchased your home in the past couple of years, you shouldn’t expect any increase market appreciation.

Nevada County Average Days on Market Graph.png

It took a little bit longer in 2019 but marketing times finally dropped to typical levels over the summer. This may have been due to our incredibly wet spring. We can expect to see marketing times trickle up moving forward.

Conclusions

Market prices continue to be stable. The average sale price in 2019 almost exactly mirrors 2018. The supply of homes on the market is larger than we have seen in 3-4 years but is still considered a balanced market. The current supply is 5.4 months, which is drastically lower to the 15+ months at the beginning of 2010. Marketing times (Days on Market) are slightly higher than 2018. If you have your home on the market, its going to take 2-3 months on average to sell, if the home is priced right. Is your home or listing priced right? Call today for a listing appraisal. (I had to throw that one in there)

Individual Markets

Hows the market going in you neck of the woods? I now have stats for all areas in western Nevada County. Some quick observations:

Data in Grass Valley and Nevada City generally mirror the data for the whole County
- Nevada City has a slightly higher supply of 6.7 months
Lake Wildwood had a strong August but summer sales were down 9.2% from 2018.
The Alta Sierra sales prices have flattened out after declining at the end of 2018
South County/McCourtney has 8.2 months of homes currently listed (95 listings) with an average List Price of $806,321.
Areas with low monthly sales volume can have statistics that are skewed such as North San Juan, High Country/Washington, Smartsville/Big Oak Valley, and Rough and Ready . Its good to concentrate on the Months Supply and compare it to the county as a whole