In-Depth Analysis

August 2009

Market-at-a-Glance

The Market-at-a-Glance section contains an overall summary of the trends described in our detailed articles.

A recap of the current market indicators are as follows:

1. Resale Listings – 38,024

a. The July listing count increased by 807 (2.2%) from the June count. The listing count had dropped for the past seven consecutive months prior to this slight upward movement.

2. Resale Sales – 9,095

a. Resale sales volume is up from this month in 2008 by 3,129 (52.45%) - (the 2008 figure was extremely weak because of the credit crunch).

b. Resale sales volume is up 4,368 sales from this month in 2007 – (the 2007 figure was weakened because of the beginning of the credit crunch).

c. Resale sales volume is up 3,002 from this month in 2006.

d. Resale sales volume is down 299 from this month in 2005 (the 2005 figure was very inflated by speculator activity).

e. Resale sales volume is up 55 from this month in 2004 (the 2004 figure was also inflated by speculator activity).

f. Resale sales volume is up 1,415 from this month in 2003.

g. Resale sales volume is up 2,981 from this month in 2002.

3. Median Resale Sales Price - $125,000

a. The median July sales price remained the same as June.

b. The median sales price is $130,000 below the June 2007 level.

c. The appreciation rate for the last twenty-five months (June 2007 to present) is a negative 24.47% on an annualized basis.

4. New Home Market

a. The number of New Home specs on August 13th had decreased by 9 from the July 15th count to 1509. The record level was in October 2006 at 4,692. Prior to February 2006 the record was 2,400 homes.

b. The number of new home subdivisions selling declined for the twenty-fifth straight month; down by 9 to 597.

5. REO – The percentage of resale properties sold which were Lender Owned dropped 3.9% to 54.4%.

Over the past few months the spec inventory has dropped back into the normal range. This past month the level remained basically stable. I believe we may soon be facing a spec shortage.

Resale sales have achieved a level near or above the 2001 level for twelve consecutive months after being below the 2001 level. I believe that the median resale price has reached bottom. We have reached a price turning point, but there will need to be a lot of recovery before the market returns to a healthy balance. The wildcards concerning market recovery are the general economy and the foreclosure situation.

The general press is reporting housing market information that is six to nine months old. The In-Depth Analysis Newsletter provides current information that you need to serve your buyers and sellers and to help them understand what is happening in today’s market.

Side Note

I believe there are the best deals available in the real estate market that we may ever see. If I were an investment counselor (I am not), I would say that if you have the need and the money, look for the deals and buy now!

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