Thursday, February 13, 2014

Quiet January...Not exactly

January was a quiet month on the real estate front here in Clark County. Just 264 units were sold and that is well off the mark even for the darkest depths of winter. But before you jump out that window... worry not the market is not roaring, but it is healthy. December had robust sales based on solid pending sales six weeks earlier.

December had a variety of of issue that effected sales in January. First December is not a busy house hunting month for most people. We also had an arctic deep freeze that kept many people from wanting to go outside. The number of units that went pending in December was very low, thus the closings in January we also low. The silver lining in this wintry dark cloud is in the pending sales data for January. 398 units went pending and that is nearly double the 228 that went pending in December. This bodes well for the end of February and the month of March.

Another uptick came in listed units. We have had a tight inventory over the last several months, but 580 new listings came on in January. Now in general increasing the inventory can soften prices. When the inventory is prohibitively tight, an increase can actually spur sales. By know means do we want to see a flood of new inventory, but a nice steady padding will help provide spring buyers with enough choices to make a decision and 'pull the trigger'.

The good news for sellers is that listings are fetching well above 97% of list price on average. Price a house right and the market will deliver buyers. This is good news. I look forward to a robust spring.

  

No comments:

Post a Comment