Here’s the most expensive home sold this year in Citrus Heights

Updated Oct. 29, 11:39 p.m.–
A massive 3,466-square-feet home in Citrus Heights was sold in October for over half a million dollars — about twice the average selling price of homes in the city in 2016.

The expansive, two-story home on Wachtel Way was built in 1985 and is situated along the north-eastern border of Citrus Heights. Inside, it boasts five bedrooms, four full bathrooms, and an attached thousand-square-feet garage for three cars. Outside, it features a swimming pool, two acres of land, and a barn structure in the rear.

James Mitts, who bought the home with his wife, told The Sentinel he was surprised to learn the deal was the top sale of the year for a single-family home in Citrus Heights. After selling their Rancho Cordova home in June, Mitts said he and his wife had been searching for a home in the area for several months and quickly put an offer on the home when it became available, noting he had seen more expensive homes listed in nearby Orangevale.

“My wife really likes the farmhouse kind of style,” said Mitts, adding that he was attracted to the large property in contrast with many newer homes that he found were too “confined in” on smaller lots in crowded developments. The 59-year-old said although the Wachtel property once had approval for a tentative subdivision plan to split it into three smaller parcels, he “like[s] it the way it is” and plans to keep it whole.

Despite breaking the home sales price record so far in 2016, the Wachtel property actually sold for significantly less per-square-foot than the average this year. Real Estate Broker Karen Eudy, with Citrus Heights-based Providence Realty, said the average price per square foot was around $200 as of September, while the Wachtel home sold for about $160 per-square-foot.

She confirmed the Wachtel home was the top sale price of the year for a single-family home in Citrus Heights and said this summer was a particularly hot market. The real estate broker said key factors used to gauge the market are total sales per month, days on market, and the number of price reductions.

Referencing MLS data and personal observation, Eudy said the local housing market has slowed down a little in the past two weeks, after a particularly hot market in the summer that peaked with 102 homes sold in the city during August.

County-wide, home sales have been on the rise, with The Sacramento Bee reporting on Thursday that home sales in Sacramento County saw the “best September in eight years.” The article cited data from CoreLogic, a real estate market tracker based in Irvine, and noted a 7.7-percent rise in total home sales compared to Sept. 2015 and an 11 percent rise in average sale price.

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