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Written by: Lake County Association of Realtors

Published: 15 January 2024

LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The latest real estate data shows sales were down in November while prices have risen slightly over a year ago.

Over the month of November 2023, a total of 59 single family homes were sold through the multiple listing service, compared to 78 in October and 68 sold a year ago during the month of November 2022.

These include traditionally built “stick-built” houses as well as manufactured homes on land.

There were four sales of mobile homes in parks in November, compared to nine in October and five sold during the month of November 2022.

For bare land (lots and acreage), 25 were sold in November, compared to 24 closed land sales in October and substantially more than the 13 sold during November 2022.

There are 393 “stick built” and manufactured homes on the market right now. If the rate of sales stays the same at 59 homes sold per month, there are currently 6.66 months of inventory on the market at the moment.

That means that if no new homes are brought to the market for sale, in 6.66 months, all of these homes would be sold and there would be no homes available for sale.

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 November data is a shift from October, where more than 5.47 months of inventory were available.

Agents continue to report a drop in requests for property tours, with fewer clients writing offers, which is consistent with the national home sales data.

The total percentage of homes bought for all cash in November: 41% (compared to 31% for October and 41% for November 2022); 29% were financed by Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (“conventional loans”) compared to 32% for October and 35% for the November 2022; 17% were financed by FHA (compared to 23% in October and 13% in November 2022); 4% were financed by the VA or CalVet (compared to 4% in October and compared to 10% for November 2022); 7% had other financing such as private loans, USDA, or seller financed notes (compared to 3% in October, and compared to 0% for November 2022).

None of the closed sales in November were assumable loans that were assumed by the buyer.

The homes in November sold at an average of 96% of the asking price at the time the property went under contract, but an average of 89% when compared to the original asking price when the property first came on the market.

This means that the asking home prices had been reduced from their original list prices on the homes that sold before they actually sold.

In October homes also sold for 96% of the asking price at the time the property went under contract, and 89% of the original asking price.

A year ago in November, homes were selling at 95% of the asking price at the time the property went under contract and also 89% when compared to the original asking price.

The median time on the market in November was 32 days, compared to 36 days in October and 49 days in November 2022.

The median sale price of a single family home in Lake County in November was $269,000, which is lower than the $318,750 median sale price for October and also lower than the median sale price of $287,000 during November 2022.

This would indicate that last month, the lower priced homes were selling in greater numbers to bring the median sale price down compared to October 2023 (and similar to the activity in November 2022).

The median asking price of homes on the market right now is $357,000, which is a drop from October’s $372,000.

In November, 31% of homes sold had seller concessions for an average concession of $11,286; the rate of concessions is lower compared to October 2023’s numbers, when 40% of homes sold had seller concessions with an average concession of $9,069.

In November 2022, 31% of homes sold had an average seller concession of $6,841.

Average concessions were highest for conventional loans in November 2023, with an average concession of $18,000.

VA loans had an average concession of $9,705; FHA loans had an average concession of $5,141.

Cash sales showed an average concession of $433.