How’s the Market?
Posted on | November 18, 2009 | No Comments
My favorite question. Over the last 30 days, we have seen inventory continue to decline. Every price range and every geographic area in our MLS saw the “months of supply” decrease by at least 1 month, and the “Odds of Selling” increase. As of today, there are 1386 active listings in Mt. Pleasant, as compared to 2,240 at the peak of inventory in June of 2007. At the rate of sales we are having, this is about a 13 month supply. Keep in mind that while increased demand is slowing the decline of prices, we still have more supply than we do demand, which is causing prices to continue to decline, although at a slower rate. Also, remember that we expect prices to start going back up (slowly) when we reach a 5-6 month supply. Supply and demand numbers vary in the different areas around town, so please let me know if you want me to run some numbers specific to your situation. We continue to have increased numbers of homes under contract. Our company is a good indicator of the market, because we are the largest company in the area. In September, we were up 30% in sales from September of 2008.Rates are holding pretty steady for now, and are hovering in the high 4’s to mid 5’s. The Fed has agreed to continue funding the purchase of mortgage backed securities through the end of this year, which is going to help keep rates low. However, I think we can definitely expect interest rates to go up if the economy continues to show signs of life.Over the summer, first time home-buyers purchased 30% of all homes that sold. I am sure that once we have the fall numbers, this will be a much higher percentage. Distressed sales (short sales and foreclosures) accounted for another 30%.Historically, our market peaks around August each year and then declines through the end of the year, then picks up again in the Spring. I think it will definitely be at least slightly different this year due to the first time buyer tax credit.
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