Jan brings a welcome increase in inventory
Don't get too alarmed or excited when you hear in the media that Jan sales were up 39%. In reality, sales were down 29% compared to the historical average for Jan.
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Despite the increase in inventory, it's still only 62% of last year's level, and that doesn't make for a good selection of homes for buyers. Let's hope the sales-to-new-listings ratio stays around 40% as that will give inventory some time to catch up and we'll remain in a balanced market.
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When you see 14% of homes selling at list price or higher, as happened in Jan, you know there's a shortage of product. I'd prefer to see that figure around zero.
The single family home median price fell $3,000 in Jan, to $398,000. That’s a drop of 1%. The condo price stayed exactly the same as Dec.
Jan 2010 stats summary:
The median price of single family homes(SFH) at $398,000 is down $3,000, or .8% from Dec. It's up 6.2% from Jan 2009 when it was $374,700.
The SFH average price at $441,217 is down $10,132 or 2.2% compared to Dec. It's up $28,168, or 6.8% from Jan 2009 when it was $413,049.
SFH sales price per sq ft at $299 was down $3, or 1% compared to Dec. It’s up $30, or 11%, from Jan 2009 when it was $269
Sales of single family homes were up 39% compared to Jan 2009.
Sales of SFH are down 29% compared to the historic average for Jan.
SFH Inventory on Jan 31 was 2513, which is 38% lower than last year.
New listings at 1822 were down 12% compared to last year.
The absorption rate of 3.3 means that we have a 3.3 month, or 99 days, supply of homes on the market. Last year, there was a 7.4 month supply. For homes under $500,000, there is a 2.6 month supply.
Days on Market(DOM) decreased to 43 in Jan from 47 in Dec. Last year, it was 62.
12 homes sold for $1 million or more. Last year, there were 6.
Price reductions are down 41% compared to last year. We've averaged 32 price reductions per day over the past week. Last year was 54.
31% of the homes listed in Jan already have a sale or a conditional sale. Last year, it was 11%.
14% of SFH sold for list price or higher. Last month was 10%.
31% of SFH sold during their first 7 days on the market. Last month was 21%.
The median price of condos at 265,000 is the same as Dec.
The median price of condos is up $22,000 or 9.1% from Jan 2009.
Condo sales at 376 are up 67% compared to Jan 2009.