Buyers came off the sidelines in Woodland this spring. Newly released Redfin data for the three months ending in June shows 132 homes changed hands, up 21.1% from the 109 sold during the same stretch a year earlier — one of the sharper increases in sales activity across the region. That pickup came even as prices retreated, a combination that gave more buyers a path into a market that had grown expensive.

Sales pick up as prices ease

The median sale price in Woodland was $539,706, down 9.8% from $598,000 a year ago. Measured by price per square foot, the decline was far milder — $327 versus $331, a drop of just 1.2%. That gap suggests the fall in the median reflects a shift toward smaller or lower-priced homes rather than a broad drop in what buyers are paying for a given amount of space.

Prices also eased month over month, slipping 1.9% from $550,000 in the three months ending in May. Compared with two years ago, when the median stood at $551,000, prices have retreated modestly. Over a longer horizon, values remain elevated: the median has risen about 10.1% over the past five years, up from $490,000 in the spring of 2021.

The lower prices, paired with easing borrowing costs, have meaningfully changed the monthly math for buyers. The 30-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 6.49% in June, down from 6.82% a year earlier. Combined with the price decline, the principal-and-interest payment on a median-priced Woodland home with 20% down works out to about $2,726 a month — roughly $399 less than the same purchase would have cost a year ago.

A market still tilted toward sellers

Even with prices softening, Woodland remains a tight market that favors sellers. Active inventory stood at 216 listings, down 1.4% from a year ago and essentially flat month over month. At the current pace of sales, that represents about 1.6 months of supply — well below the four-to-six months typically associated with a balanced market.

Homes also sold quickly. The median time on market was 17 days, down from 19 days a year ago, meaning properties are finding buyers about two days faster than last spring. That pace has slowed slightly from the 16 days recorded in the three months ending in May, and it remains far longer than the 10 days seen two years ago and the 7 days at the height of the 2021 market.

Competition for available homes stayed firm. About 35.0% of homes sold above their list price, up from 23.9% a year earlier, and the typical home sold at 99.6% of its asking price. New listings, at 149, came in below the 166 recorded a year ago, keeping the supply of fresh options constrained.

Affordability and the bigger picture

Woodland, a city of about 61,000 residents whose population dipped 0.6% over the past year, remains a stretch for local buyers on paper. At the current median price, a home costs roughly 6.0 times the median household income of $90,180, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — above the 5x threshold generally considered unaffordable. The monthly payment on a median-priced home would absorb about 36.3% of median household monthly income, a level that is stretched but not out of reach by standard lending benchmarks.

Nationally, home prices continued to edge higher, with the S&P/Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index up slightly year over year — a contrast to Woodland’s local price decline. The 15-year fixed mortgage rate averaged 5.82% in June, little changed from the prior month.

For now, the Woodland market presents a mixed picture: prices have come down from a year ago and borrowing is cheaper, but low inventory, quick sales, and a rising share of homes selling above asking all point to conditions that continue to favor sellers.