Februrary Stats

After a short down turn in prices, things seem to have leveled off. Prices so far in 2009 are down less than 1%. As i have said all along, we never had the steep increases. MLS average home selling price is just under $63K.

On the down side total homes sales in the MLS are down 25% as compared with the first 2 months of 2008. Market times have increased to an average of 155 days. While the market feels saturated, the numbers are encouraging. Current inventory is approximately 9.5 months. But, a word of caution here: this figure is much more influenced by price. For homes over $200K, the months of inventory grows to 20 months.

The other discouraging thing is home prices. Many homes are going on the market priced too high, period. Our average active list price is about $92,500. The current list to sale ratio is about 88%. Based on the averages, we should see a selling value of just over $81k.

For my local friends: If you feel led to list your home, please be sure to ask an agent for a comparative analysis to show you what appropriate pricing would be.

If you are a friend across the nation and are considering a sale, be sure the agent can give you specifics of your market, and ask for a comparative analysis of your home. If an agent comes to your home and has already made up his/her mind about the homes projected selling price and they have no comps to share, thank them for their time. Then, call another agent.

Remember real estate agents work for you. Conduct the listing appointment as if you were hiring for a company owned. Be sure they have a grasp of the market and have done their due diligence in preparing for their meeting with you. If they haven't done their home work, do you really believe they will do what ever they must to sell you home; even, if it means telling you the cold hard facts that you're asking for too much?.