Market update for February 2023

December was slow and January was worse. There were only 223 homes sold and closed last month in all of Solano County.

Inventory remains the biggest problem. As of today, the number of active and coming soon listings is sitting at 436. Historically, we see around 500 sales per month in the county.

We had more than 6,000 home sales in Solano County in 2021, while wearing masks and showing houses via Zoom. As I hoped and as my friend, broker Brian Stumbaugh, predicted last month, the phone, thank goodness, has been ringing off the hook at my office since the Niners got knocked off in the NFC championship.

First-time homebuyers are coming out of the woodwork and desperately trying to escape the rent trap. I would estimate based on what is going on in my office this past 30 days, and from what I hear from some of my peers on the mortgage side of the business as well as a bunch of my Realtor friends, there are currently at least 300 prequalified first-time homebuyers looking for a house or condo in Solano County to buy this weekend.

Most of these 300 buyers can only qualify for and afford a home or condo at $600,000 or less and there are currently only 175 homes and condos available in the entire county below $600,000.

Multiple offers are back but keep in mind, most first-time homebuyers

Jim Porter

cannot pay more than the appraised value because most barely have enough funds to cover the required down payment and closing costs.

If you or anyone you know has outgrown their house and needs to move up to a larger home or wants to move down to a retirement type of home, now is the time to call a local, experienced mortgage professional, and after you see the mathematics and the affordability, get your home on the market with a local Realtor, because it will sell if it is priced and marketed right and the buyer will almost always allow you to rent back for a month or even two, giving you a stress-free move into your new home.

Jim Porter, NMLS No. 276412, is the branch manager of Solano Mortgage, NMLS No. 1515497, a division of American Pacific Mortgage Corporation, NMLS No. 1850, licensed in California by the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation under the CRMLA / Equal Housing Opportunity. Jim can be reached at 707-449-4777.