Across the state of California, pending home sales bounced back from the previous month in October. As a bonus, pending sales were also significantly higher on an annual basis, showing buyer’s hands in plans to close their deals in the next couple of months.

  • Pending sales in California hanging tough, even though slow season has begun.
  • Even though sellers are averaging more than 3 offers per home, the gap in price expectation and reality narrowed.
  • Statewide, 27 percent of homes closed above, and 47 percent closed below the asking price in October.

The closest thing that the real estate industry has to mind-reading is pending home sales.

Across the state, pending home sales bounced back from the previous month in October. As a bonus, pending sales were also significantly higher on an annual basis, showing buyer’s hands in plans to close their deals in the next couple of months.

Pending sales were higher year-over-year throughout The Golden State, with Southern California and Central Valley both increasing at a double-digit rate year-over-year.

California Realtors also got a little more good news in the California Association of Realtors’ (CAR) October Market Pulse Survey. The survey showed an increase in sales with multiple offers compared with September’s figure, and an increase in the number of offers received.

According to the Pulse Survey, 64 percent of properties received multiple offers in October, indicating the market remains competitive. That’s a big increase over October 2014, when 51 percent of properties received multiple offers. The average number of offers per property keeps climbing as well. Sellers received 3.2 offers per listing in October, up from 2.4 in September and up from 2.3 during the same month last year.

On the price side, 27 percent of homes closed above the asking price in October, and just about half, (47 percent) closed below asking price. That leaves exactly one-quarter of the homes closed at their asking price.

The big gap between the expectation and the reality in asking prices closed a little bit last month. For the slightly more than one in four homes that sold above asking price, the premium paid over asking price fell to an average of 8.9 percent, down from 11 percent in September. The homes that sold below asking price sold for an average of 12 percent below asking price in October, up from 10 percent in September.

And, the survey found that sellers are keenly aware that price appreciation is leveling off: About one-third of properties had price reductions in October, the highest level for that metric in the last 12 months.

The prognostications for pending sales remain good, even as the market enters the cooling off period of the winter months. Based on the Pending Home Sales Index October’s rate rose 2.5 percent from a revised 110.7 in September to 113.4 in October, based on signed contracts. The month-to-month gain was better than the average increase of 0.9 percent from September to October observed in the last seven years.

On an annual basis, statewide pending home sales were up 13.9 percent from the revised 99.5 index recorded in October 2014.

Pending sales have been increasing on a year-over-year basis since November 2014 and have seen double-digit increases for nine consecutive months.

While non-distressed property sales still make up the lion’s share of transactions, distressed sales crept up a bit in October, to 6.3 percent of total sales. Non-distressed sales are, though, at the highest levels since the fall of 2007.

Email Kimberley Sirk

Show Comments Hide Comments
Sign up for Inman’s Morning Headlines
What you need to know to start your day with all the latest industry developments
By submitting your email address, you agree to receive marketing emails from Inman.
Success!
Thank you for subscribing to Morning Headlines.
Back to top
Only 3 days left to register for Inman Connect Las Vegas before prices go up! Don't miss the premier event for real estate pros.Register Now ×
Limited Time Offer: Get 1 year of Inman Select for $199SUBSCRIBE×
Log in
If you created your account with Google or Facebook
Don't have an account?
Forgot your password?
No Problem

Simply enter the email address you used to create your account and click "Reset Password". You will receive additional instructions via email.

Forgot your username? If so please contact customer support at (510) 658-9252

Password Reset Confirmation

Password Reset Instructions have been sent to

Subscribe to The Weekender
Get the week's leading headlines delivered straight to your inbox.
Top headlines from around the real estate industry. Breaking news as it happens.
15 stories covering tech, special reports, video and opinion.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
Unique features from hacker profiles to portal watch and video interviews.
It looks like you’re already a Select Member!
To subscribe to exclusive newsletters, visit your email preferences in the account settings.
Up-to-the-minute news and interviews in your inbox, ticket discounts for Inman events and more
1-Step CheckoutPay with a credit card
By continuing, you agree to Inman’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

You will be charged . Your subscription will automatically renew for on . For more details on our payment terms and how to cancel, click here.

Interested in a group subscription?
Finish setting up your subscription
×