MOUNTAIN COMMUNITIES — June 2020 turned out to be a surprisingly good month for mountain area home sales, says local Realtor Ed Bailey.
Ed Bailey
“We expected a slowdown because of the pandemic, but we actually had 51 homes sold through the California Regional Multiple Listing Service,” which was an increase of 13 percent from 47 sales last year during the same period, Bailey said.
“We had only two distress sale (bank-owned or short sale) listings, or 1.1 percent of 179 active listings at the end of June,” Bailey added, which is down 16 percent from the 303 active listings at the end of May, and down 40 percent from 289 active listings in June 2019.
“This is the lowest inventory we have had in more than a decade,” noted Bailey, who owns and operates Ed Bailey Realty in Oakhurst.
Average time on the market for listings sold in June 2020 was 112 days, and purchase prices averaged 98 percent of asking prices. The average home size was 1,977 square feet and the price per square foot was $195.83.
July 2020 is off to “a great start,” with 12 home sales (closings) in the first two days, Bailey reports.
For the entire first half of 2020, home sale activity did slow somewhat compared to the first six months of 2019. The number of home sales during the first half of 2020 was down by 19 percent — from 303 last year to 279, this year. The median price was $325,000 and average purchase price was 96 percent of asking price.
Average time on the market was 95 days. The average home size sold was 1,930 square feet. And average price per square foot for a house sold in the first half of 2020 was $185.62.
