Market Report For January 2008

Good News: Average Sale Price Appreciation – 6.1% ($343,900 v. $324,100)
Median Sale Price Appreciation – 6.1% ($289,900 v. $273,200)
Appreciation percents based on a comparison of average/median price for the last 12 months
(2/1/07-1/31/08) with 12 months before (2/1/06-1/31/07).

12.8 Months of Inventory.  Every January we have a jump with inventory between December and January because many sellers wait until the holidays are over to sell.  Last year we had a 27% increase in listings.  This year we jumped 33% which is a lot but is still typical.

There are also a lot of home in pre-foreclosure that will raise the number of listings.  The unfortunate numbers comparing 2007 to 2008 are:

• 2007 vs 2008
• 4,411 vs 4,937 new listings
• 2,544 vs 1,671 pending sales

More listings but less sales.  That is not a great combination.  This Spring will set the tone for awhile.  In the each of the last 2 years, June was the month that the housing market dropped from it’s previous level.

These numbers are bound to happen with the restrictions in loans that started last April.  The restrictions continued to tighten throughout the summer and interest rates continued to drop.  The rate drop is one thing that may be saving our market.

In my own personal transactions I have had increased showing on my listings and new Buyers looking for homes.  Hopefully that continues to increase.