Sacramento’s housing market drew more buyers off the sidelines this summer. In the three months ending August, 1,122 homes changed hands across the city, an 8.5% increase from the 1,034 sold during the same stretch a year earlier, according to newly released data from Redfin. The pickup in sales stands out in a market where prices and inventory moved only modestly, and it signals steady demand in a city of nearly 540,000 residents whose population grew 1.3% over the past year.

Sales and pace pick up

Beyond the jump in closed deals, homes are moving faster. The typical Sacramento home spent 23 days on the market in the three months ending August, down from 26 days a year earlier — meaning sellers waited roughly three fewer days for an offer than they did last summer. That pace has eased somewhat in recent weeks, however; homes sold in a median of 20 days in the three months ending July, so the market slowed by three days heading into late summer, a shift consistent with the typical cooling after the peak spring and early-summer window.

Buyer competition remained firm. Nearly 36% of homes sold above their asking price, up from about 31% a year earlier, and the median home closed at exactly its list price. For longer-term perspective, homes moved far faster during the pandemic-era frenzy of 2021, when the typical Sacramento listing found a buyer in just eight days.

Prices hold steady

The median sale price reached $509,663 in the three months ending August, up 4.0% from $490,000 a year earlier. On a month-to-month basis, prices were essentially flat, slipping 0.1% from $510,000 in the period ending July. Prices have risen about 5.1% over the past five years, a gain that trailed broad inflation over that period.

The price-per-square-foot figure tells a slightly different story than the headline median. At $333, price per square foot edged down 0.6% from $335 a year ago — a sign that the rise in the median sale price reflects the mix of homes sold rather than broad-based per-foot appreciation. Nationally, home prices continued to rise, with the S&P/Case-Shiller index up year-over-year.

A tight but balanced market

Inventory rose modestly, with 2,299 active listings in the three months ending August, up 3.2% from 2,227 a year earlier. At the current sales pace, that translates to about two months of supply — a level that still favors sellers, since a balanced market typically carries closer to five or six months of inventory. New listings totaled 1,422, up from 1,345 a year ago, giving buyers slightly more to choose from than last summer.

Mortgage rates added to the cost of buying. The 30-year fixed rate averaged 6.67% in August, up from 6.54% in July and 6.59% a year earlier, according to Freddie Mac. The combination of higher prices and a slightly higher rate means a buyer purchasing a median-priced Sacramento home with 20% down now faces a monthly principal-and-interest payment of about $2,623 — roughly $122 more per month than the $2,501 a similar buyer would have paid a year ago.

Affordability remains stretched

For local households, homeownership remains a stretch. Sacramento’s median home price of about $510,000 is 5.8 times the median household income of $87,321, according to U.S. Census Bureau figures — well above the threshold generally considered affordable. The estimated monthly payment on a median-priced home consumes about 36% of the median household’s monthly income, a level the National Association of Realtors considers stretched but not out of reach.

Two years ago, in the three months ending August 2024, the median price stood at $510,500 — nearly identical to today’s figure — but homes then sold in just 16 days amid tighter inventory of 1,917 listings. That comparison underscores how much of this summer’s movement has come from rising sales volume rather than escalating prices: more homes are trading hands than a year ago, even as price growth stays measured and supply has loosened somewhat from its 2024 lows.