Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Weekly Market Update

Good afternoon! I hope you’re enjoying a reprieve from the snow and cold we’ve been having! I have to remind myself we are still in the season of winter and spring doesn’t officially start until March 20th! And then spring doesn’t really come until sometime in April – or May!!! Lower expectations and experience less disappointment!

Here’s what’s been happening in our next of the woods this past week:

The gap between current and year-ago listing activity continues to widen, as anticipated. Expect the supply-side numbers to show sizable year-over-year declines due to the high baseline set during the spring 2010 tax credit. It should be noted that we are now approaching a period where we’ll be comparing the 2011 non-tax credit market to the 2010 tax credit market at its peak level.

For the week ending February 19, there were 690 signed purchase agreements, which made for a 12.1 percent decline from the same week last year. There were 1,367 New Listings for the week, representing a 25.4 percent decline from a year ago. Active Listings, at 21,642, have been holding steady since the beginning of the year due to subdued seller activity coupled with fairly reliable sales volumes. That marked a 3.3 percent decline from year-ago inventory levels.

A more meaningful comparison is to look back at 2009 and 2008 and avoid tax credit stimulated activity. This week's 690 Pending Sales fall right in between 2008 and 2009 numbers. While that is less buyer activity than we would like, it does provide hope for the future!

As always – please feel free to call or email us if you have any questions or concerns!

Best regards,
Eric & Sharla

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