The year is already more than a month old so it is time to look at some numbers. In general there have been more new listings and more sales this past January that in January of 2007. We are still seeing more listings than sales each month but the inventory of homes on the market is going down. I anticipate an up tick in the spring. Some home owners took their homes off the market during the slower months.
The chart represents all of the listings and sales of single family homes, which does include townhouses and condos, in the city of St. Paul, MN. The red line represents new listings and the blue line represents the number of offers that have been made by buyers. For data from prior months and all of last year see local market conditions & home prices.
I have noticed an increase in business over the last four or five weeks as I am contacted by both buyers and sellers. Visits to my web sites and blogs have gone up and my weekends have been filled with appointments since the beginning of the year. During the winter months when the days are short most buyers prefer to see homes during the daylight hours making Saturday a very popular day to look at homes.
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In the neighborhoods I am looking in, I am amazed by what I now consider a “good deal”.
Houses are at prices that last year would have made me jump to write an offer are now routine. There is so much selection right now, and it’s only February. Everywhere I look I see the phenomenon of ‘chasing the market down’.
I’m thinking that after the spring buying bump, this fall may be a great low price point. A lot of sellers have capitulated from their lofty asking prices, but there will be more, I think.
I can tell when a house will sell soon, because when it pops up as a new listing, I often think that I better look at that one right away. Usually, it sells.
PB
PB – just like you I am watching and waiting, my theory is the same as yours. Last year there was not a bump in the spring just a leveling off. I wonder if there will even be a price increase this spring.
You’re right, Patient Buyer. Those sellers who accept that they aren’t going to get 2005-2007 prices and set their asking prices accordingly seem to have no trouble selling their homes in a matter of days or weeks, even in the mid-winter market. On the other hand, many others continue to set their wishing prices on the high side, indicating that they don’t really need to sell and are willing to absorb carrying costs until a greater fool comes along. But it’s not as if taxes or insurance costs are going down…..
Bubble_Up