house prices in Sacramento - Sacramento Appraisal Blog - California News Beep

A private island listed for sale last week in the local market, and it’s getting viral attention, so let’s talk about it. Also, price metrics are now HIGHER than one year ago. What does that mean? Has the housing market started to rebound? Are we so back? Let’s get into it.

UPCOMING SPEAKING GIGS:

6/24/26 Windermere Sierra Oaks Q&A
7/1/26 Wisdom Wednesday in Elk Grove
7/13/26 LPT Realty Zoom
7/14/26 Elk Grove Presentation TBD
7/15/26 Stockton Presentation TBD
8/6/26 PCAR Auburn
9/1/26 ROG Talks
10/2/26 PCAR Rocklin
10/21/26 Coldwell Banker Sierra Oaks / EDH

TOP 10 REASONS TO BUY AN ISLAND

Bragging rights. “Bro, I own an island.”
Throw a big party (Sacramento Fyre Festival).
Finally, you have privacy.
Become an Instagram island influencer.
Open a drive-through coffee shop for boats.
Move far away from any HOA.
Use the parcel to film season nine of Love Island.
Helicopter landing pad.
Create a vacation destination with Airbnb potential.
Buy and rename the island after your business.

MY ANKLE INJURY

By the way, I injured my ankle last week. I don’t think it’s broken, but if you see me hobbling, it’s from a skateboarding mishap. Here’s a video in case you want to see the moment it happened. Haha.

HERE’S WHAT THE ISLAND LOOKS LIKE

This parcel is located along the California Delta at 13301 W Eight Mile Rd (Stockton, CA), and it’s 5.6 acres in size according to public records. Do you see any potential here? What would you want to do with it?

Q&A WITH THE LISTING AGENT

I asked Monte Morris a few questions via text message about his island listing, and here’s what he had to say:

Ryan: This property has gone viral over the past week. What’s it been like to manage that?

Monte: I called news outlets, and asked them to write articles. Those conversations were with SacBee, SF Gate, and the New York Post’s California arm. As soon as those were published, my phone just started blowing up. This is the third island that I’ve listed, and other news outlets have jumped on board and written their own articles. It’s almost been too much! My phone has been ringing so much that while I’m talking with someone and answering questions, I miss five or six other calls so I can’t keep up with all of it.

Ryan: What advice would you give to anyone wanting to buy an island?

Monte: I would say act fast and do your due diligence. The local authorities are the ones to ask for your specific intended use. This part can be a little frustrating because these agencies don’t move very fast.

Ryan: What type of interest has there been in this one? Who has been interested?

Monte: I’ve had everything from marijuana grows, commercial rentals, marinas, residential, lots of hunting clubs, and everything else you can imagine. You just have to call the appropriate authority like fishing game, planning, or Building, etc.

CLOSING THOUGHTS:

I think Monte is 100% correct about understanding what you can do with the land, and this rings true whether we’re talking about an island or any parcel. Value hinges on what zoning allows (or will allow maybe). Bottom line. I would recommend not relying on the listed zoning in Tax Records either, which is AG-40. This one little zoning description in Realist may or may not be correct, so get on the phone with the planning / building department and start asking questions to verify zoning and what is possible. If you’re thinking about value, you can try to find some other comps because interesting stuff like this does sell from time to time, but this is a cash purchase, so at the end of the day, ask yourself how much it’s worth to you personally too.

ARE PRICES REALLY UP FROM ONE YEAR AGO?

Yes, they are. Technically. But the comparison today is starting to get weird because the market peaked early last year, and we’re now starting to compare today’s stats with a dull market in 2025. Ultimately, I wouldn’t get too hyped over this. This is only one month of data, and so much of the price reading comes down to what the market was doing last year, which was peaking early. But don’t get me wrong. Like I talked about in recent weeks, price change has been compressing. What I mean is prices have not been growing more negative lately.

LOOK BEYOND JUST THE MEDIAN AND AVERAGE

I’ll report on other price indexes from Zillow and Freddie Mac as soon as they become available, and my guess is they’re not going to be up for May, but they won’t likely be down by much either.

SERIOUSLY, LET’S UNDERSTAND THE COMPARISON

Do you see how the green line (2026) ticked up from April to May? That’s not uncommon to see at this time of year as other lines show. But last year in 2025, the blue line went down earlier than expected. So, we’re starting to compare a more normal trend this year with an early peak last year. And this makes a difference in the stats. Many people aren’t going to understand this, but those who watch closely will sound like badass experts. It’s going to be interesting to watch this line in coming months too.

YEAR-OVER-YEAR RECAP IMAGES:

Enjoy recap stats for twelve counties. Please take smaller counties with a grain of salt. Stats can bounce around all over the place, so don’t be rigid about the change from month to month. In fact, I think I’m going to switch some of the smaller areas to quarterly by next month because they’re too chaotic (Nevada, Yuba, Sutter, etc…).

RECAP DESCRIPTION:

In most areas, we’re starting to see price metrics are slightly higher than one year ago, and the housing market has been a little more competitive too. Closed sales volume is pretty flat compared to last year, and most areas showed more homes selling above the original list price. In coming months, I expect the stats today will be more competitive as the market got pretty dull last summer. So, be ready for those comparisons. The number of active listings has shrunk a bit in most counties lately, and that’s due to slightly stronger pending volume and sellers starting to back off the market too. Anyway, I’ll keep talking about the market on my socials every day, so let’s keep the conversation going.