RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - The May Rancho Cordova Luncheon featured Ryan Lundquist, certified residential appraiser and housing market analyst.  Prices are up in the Sacramento area and demand is far outstripping supply, Lundquist pointed out. In Sacramento County first quarter 2012 compared to first quarter 2021, the housing market median price rose from $163,000 to $298,745, 183%.  In the Rancho Cordova 95670 zip code area the February to April 2021 median price compared to the 2020 figure for the same period is up 21.4% and the 95742 area up 15.1%.  Average days on the market decreased from 16 to 8 days for 95670, and 43 to 12 days for 95742.  In Sacramento, Placer, Yolo, and El Dorado Counties comparing April 2020 to April 2021, offers increased from 4,168 to 13,361, or up 220.5%, and closed sales from 1,620 to 2,566, up 58.4%. 

“We’re poised to open up in California and I would say the more normal we get, the more chance of eventually having a more normal real estate market,” Lundquist said.  “As we get into our normal rhythms of going out to eat . . . drinking beer in the barrel district, taking vacations and getting our kids back to school, those things really matter to boost normalcy.”  As sellers feel more normal, Lundquist expects to see an uptick in listings.  “It’s going to take a while to dig ourselves out of this housing shortage, but I think what we want to see is maybe demand go down a little bit, it will help with the supply issue.”

What is normal in real estate?  “(It’s normal) for prices to go up and then to see them go down, and then to see them go up, and down,” Lundquist said. “So there is this real estate cycle going on.  But we can’t just look at 2005 and say, ‘it’s about ready to pop again’.”

A columnist for Zillow recently predicted double digit growth through 2021. “I’m not a fan of his estimate, I’m a fan of their economics, though,” Lundquist said.  “Now, hopefully not 20% growth; that type of appreciation, I don’t think that’s sustainable for the long haul. But in real estate, just like life, anything can happen.”

When he resided in Rancho Cordova around a dozen years ago, Lundquist initiated some community projects.  According to Cordova Community Council executive director Shelly Blanchard, Lundquist organized his neighbors to paint a wall at the entrance to his neighborhood and posted a video about their efforts.  “I used that video as a teaching tool to talk about what a great neighborhood volunteer’s experience should look like,” Blanchard said.  “I believe Leadership Rancho Cordova still uses that video to this day.”  Lundquist also initiated Project 680, named after the number of students classified as homeless at that time, to provide socks for them.  “More than a decade later, Ryan’s Project 680 lives on, most recently gathering gift cards to buy shoes for needy students who are heading back to school after more than a year,” Blanchard said.

Lundquist has been quoted in local television and national publications and is a board member for the Real Estate Appraisers Association of Sacramento.  You can find his blog at www.sacramentoappraisalblog.com.