Homes in Citrus Heights are taking substantially longer to sell than they did a year ago, even as buyers returned to the market in greater numbers. According to newly released Redfin data for the three months ending in April, the typical home spent 25 days on the market — nearly two weeks longer than the 13 days it took during the same period in 2025. That shift, combined with falling prices, points to a market where sellers no longer hold the upper hand they enjoyed last spring.

Prices step back from last year’s highs

The median sale price in Citrus Heights came in at $459,763, down 7.9% from $499,000 a year earlier. On a per-square-foot basis, prices fell a more modest 4.6%, from $326 to $311 — suggesting that part of the headline price decline reflects a shift toward somewhat larger homes selling at lower per-foot values, not just broad price erosion.

Compared with March, prices ticked up 2.2%, a movement consistent with the normal spring pickup rather than a sign of a sustained rebound. Looking further back, the current median sits below the $479,000 recorded two years ago, and prices have risen just 6.9% over the past five years — well behind the pace of overall inflation during that stretch.

The cooling has translated into real savings for buyers financing a purchase. With the 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaging 6.33% in April, down from 6.72% a year earlier according to Freddie Mac, the monthly principal-and-interest payment on a median-priced Citrus Heights home works out to roughly $2,284 — about $297 less per month than a buyer would have paid last April. Nationally, the S&P/Case-Shiller index was essentially flat year-over-year, underscoring how much the local pullback diverges from the broader trend.

More homes changing hands, but inventory is building

Sales activity picked up notably. A total of 216 homes sold during the three-month period, up 19.3% from 181 a year earlier and 18% above the prior three-month period ending in March. New listings, at 258, came in slightly below the 276 seen a year ago.

Active inventory rose to 377 homes, 5.3% higher than last year and 7.4% above the prior period. At the current sales pace, that translates to about 1.7 months of supply — still technically a sellers’ market by conventional standards, but considerably more breathing room than buyers had a year ago, when homes were being snapped up in under two weeks. The share of homes selling above list price slipped to 37.4% from 40.3%, and the typical sale closed at 99.6% of the asking price.

Affordability remains stretched

Even with the year-over-year price decline, Citrus Heights remains an expensive market relative to local incomes. Median household income in the city stands at $82,314, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, putting the median home price at roughly 5.6 times annual household income — above the 5x threshold generally considered unaffordable. The estimated monthly mortgage payment on a median-priced home would consume about 33% of median household income, a level the National Association of Realtors classifies as stretched but not unaffordable.

Citrus Heights, with a population of about 86,500, saw its population slip 0.9% over the past year, according to the California Department of Finance — a small decline, but one that may be contributing to the softer demand picture.

How the market compares with recent history

The current pace of activity sits between the heated conditions of recent years and the much faster market of the early-pandemic era. Five years ago, in the spring of 2021, homes were selling in just 6 days and 269 homes changed hands during a comparable three-month window. Two years ago, the median home spent 10 days on the market.

Today’s 25-day median, combined with rising inventory and softer pricing, suggests a market that has moved meaningfully in buyers’ favor over the past 12 months — though tight supply by historical standards continues to limit how far that shift can go.