Building Industry Association member builders sold 521 new homes in the seven-county region in February. Last year, at this time, 762 new homes were sold in the region. Photo courtesy of North State Building Industry Association

SACRAMENTO REGION (MPG) – Sacramento-area new home sales slowed during the first three weeks of February before coming back strong during the last week of the month, according to the North State Building Industry Association on March 11.

Tim Murphy, the Building Industry Association’s president and CEO, attributed the late-month surge in part to mortgage interest rate trends.

“As markets adjusted to the presidential transition, interest rates ticked upwards to a little over 7% in mid-January and then gradually eased downward,” Murphy said. “That decline accelerated in the latter part of February, which likely accounted for higher sales at the end of the month.”

Building Industry Association member builders sold 521 new homes in the seven-county region in February, which was above the average for the month (505 sales) but below February sales totals reported in recent years.

Sales were down 32% from February 2024 (partly because that year was a five-week month) and down 21% from January (again, partly because that, too, was a five-week month).

As mentioned, however, sales rebounded from 114 in the third week of February to 148 in the last week of the month, which was the best weekly sales total since the end of last August.

New home communities in Sacramento County reported the highest number of sales in February with 269, due largely to the fact that there are far more open communities there than in other parts of the region. Placer County finished in second-place with 154, followed by Yuba County with 49. Including adjacent Sutter County, the region reported 57 sales in all.

As is often the case, Roseville reported the most sales of any submarket with 80, followed by Rancho Cordova and Elk Grove, tied with 56 each. Sacramento was fourth with 33 and Plumas Lake fifth with 27. Rocklin came in sixth with 21, followed by Folsom with 20, Natomas with 17, and Lincoln and Antelope, which each saw 14 sales.  

Building Industry Association statistics include sales by members in Amador, El Dorado, Placer, Sacramento, Sutter, Yolo and Yuba counties.

Representing more than 500 members who provide 55,000 industry jobs, the North State Building Industry Association is committed to preserving and furthering the economic interests of its members, while working to enhance the industry's standing as a significant contributor to the regional economy. The association, founded in 1944, is comprised of builders, developers, subcontractors, suppliers and related professionals. 

For more information, visit online www.northstatebia.org.