Loomis’ median sale price climbed 25.5% over the past year, reaching $799,600 for the three months ending July 2026, up from $637,000 a year earlier, according to newly released data from Redfin. But that headline figure overstates how much home values actually shifted. The median price per square foot rose just 4.0% over the same period, from $426 to $443 — a gap of more than 21 percentage points between the two measures. That divergence points to a change in the mix of homes selling rather than a broad revaluation of the market: buyers in this small Placer County town of about 6,800 residents were purchasing larger or higher-end properties, which pulled the median up faster than underlying per-foot values moved.

Why the two price measures disagree

The median sale price reflects the middle transaction in a given period, so it swings easily when the type of home selling changes. Price per square foot, which normalizes for home size, offers a steadier read on value. When the median rises sharply but per-square-foot prices barely budge, it usually means larger homes made up a bigger share of sales — not that identical houses suddenly cost 25% more.

In a market this small, that effect is amplified. Only 24 homes sold in the three months ending July 2026, down 11.1% from 27 a year earlier. With a sample that thin, a handful of larger or pricier sales can move the median substantially, so the more modest per-square-foot increase is likely the better gauge of how much values actually changed.

A tight, fast-moving market

By nearly every other measure, Loomis remained firmly a sellers’ market. Homes sold in a median of 8 days, down from 15 days a year earlier — meaning the typical listing found a buyer roughly a week faster than last summer. That pace also quickened from the three months ending June 2026, when the median was 12 days. Nearly half of homes — 47.9% — sold above their list price, up from 29.6% a year ago, and the typical sale closed at 100.7% of asking.

Inventory stayed limited. There were 38 active listings, down 19.1% from 47 a year earlier and down 11.6% from June. That works out to just 1.6 months of supply — the number of months it would take to sell every listing at the current sales pace — well within the range that favors sellers. New listings held at 24, matching the number of homes sold.

The median sale price also rose 9.9% from the three months ending June 2026, when it stood at $727,500. Some of that month-to-month strength reflects normal early-summer activity, but the mix-shift caveat applies here too: with so few sales, month-over-month median moves should be read cautiously.

Affordability and the cost of buying

For longer-term perspective, Loomis home prices have risen about 20.2% over the past five years, and the current median sits well above the roughly $670,000 recorded in the three months ending July 2024.

The rising median has real consequences for buyers. At today’s price and a 30-year fixed rate averaging 6.54% in July, the monthly principal-and-interest payment on a median-priced Loomis home — assuming 20% down — comes to about $4,060. That is $765 more per month than a year ago, when the same calculation produced roughly $3,295, a jump driven by the higher price and only partly offset by rates easing from 6.72% a year earlier. Mortgage rates ticked up slightly from an average of 6.49% in June.

Measured against local incomes, Loomis is expensive. The median home now costs about 9.8 times the median household income of $81,487, according to the U.S. Census Bureau — far above the level generally considered affordable. The estimated monthly payment consumes roughly 60% of median household income, well beyond the 43% threshold used by the National Association of Realtors.

Nationally, home prices continued to rise modestly, with the S&P/CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index up year-over-year as of its latest reading.

The bottom line

Loomis entered midsummer as a tight, competitive market: fewer homes for sale, faster sales, and more buyers paying above asking than a year ago. The eye-catching 25.5% jump in the median sale price, however, is best understood alongside the far smaller 4.0% rise in price per square foot — a reminder that in a market this small, what sells can matter as much as what it sells for.