Real Estate Market Update - February 2026

We’re over 40 days into the new year and the Seahawks flew away with a Superbowl win.

• The markets hit some serious turbulence after a strong Q4 run. Gold and Silver got smacked down after hitting all time highs.
• The S&P500 is pushing, but just cant seem to sustain values beyond the 7,000 mark.
• Mortgage rates are holding stable in the low 6’s after a slowly declining over the last year.

Market outlooks are positive for the year ahead, but that doesnt exactly match with the “feel” on the street. As we get closer to the spring market, we’ll get a better indication of the potential real estate market trajectory for 2026!

Now, let’s dig into the January numbers for the Greater Sacramento region!

Tri-County

Properties for sale increased by 2.6%, a moderate increase, but still an indication of the annual market shift.

Pendings increased an impressive 23.9%, which should translate to a strong increase in sales numbers in the next month data.

Sales declined 33.5%, but that represents the Pending activity from December, so this is no surprise.

Days on Market increased 6.7% from 60 to 64 days, and the List Price to Sold Price ratio held at 96% for the 6th straight month.

The Median Sold price of Single Family Homes dropped .2% to $571,000.

I expect this to turn positive once the current Pending activity turns into closed sales. The Average sold price also saw a small decline.

The Months of Inventory jumped a whopping 55.7% from 1.8 to 2.8. Since this is based on “closed sales”, this is a combination of slower sales rates from December, and increased inventory levels. I expect this to drop next month and closed sales start to take up some of the standing inventory. The seasonal shift appears to be right on time, but dont celebrate too early. We saw a strong shift in the market in early spring last year, but then the market took a quick and early dropoff as tariff talks put downward pressure on a lot of markets.

Placer County

Residential property for sale increased by a modest 3.3% for January

Pendeds jumped 25.2%

Solds dropped a massive 34%. Again, Sales lag, so next update should show a strong reversal!

Days on market increase from 67 to 68. The List Price to Sold Price increased from 95% to 96%, which is a positive sign for Placer County sellers.

The Median Sold Price for Single Family Homes declined from $650,00 to $625,000 for the month.

The inventory levels increased a sizeable 55.1% from 1.8 to 2.8 months. I expect this inventory level will start to decline as more buyers jump back in the market for spring.

This is a nice start to the year, but it’s only 1 month, and things can change quickly, as we’ve seen in the past. It can be difficult to project exactly how the real estate market will move this year, but I’m optimistic.

There is some potential for rates to drop a little, and I expect we’ll see more sales volume. This could be a good window for home buyers to snatch up a home before the market heats up moving through the year.

Incomes have increased overall, rates are holding stable, and there is a lot of Buyer demand sitting on the sidelines.