Week Ending October 17th, 2008
3rd Quarter DMAAR MLS Statistics
This week I want to review the 3rd Quarter MLS Statistics for The Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS® (DMAAR). Now there has been doom & gloom in the media over the housing crisis much of this year and the past 2 weeks were particularly painful. So when 3rd Quarter statistics were released by DMAAR, I wasn’t sure I wanted to see them. But what I found was interesting.. and dare I say encouraging….
Let me explain.
Active Listings (Homes for sale) began the year higher than 2007 until May when the Active Listing inventory began to fall off. This is good. In a market where buyers haven’t been buying as fast as previous years, an increase in homes for sale would only stifle the market. This September ended with over 900 fewer homes on the market. What does this mean? Sellers on the market now are serious about selling.
Contracts Written (Sale Pendings) have been creeping towards last years numbers ever so slightly. September ended up with only 36 fewer contracts written from a year ago. This is good. The best measure of the state of the market is how many offers are written and accepted. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues into October. It will be interesting to see if the volatility of the stock market in October has any effect on buyers confidence.
Closed Transactions (SOLDS) are maintaining a steady level. In fact, since April the number of closings have hovered between 749 and 824. There is no doubt that there have been fewer homes sold in 2008, but to not see a major drop from August to September like we did in 2007 is encouraging.
Average Days On Market (DOM) is a barometer of how long sellers must wait for an offer. Two points on this chart. Days on Market have been trending lower from earlier in the year and September of 2008 was within 10 days on average of the time it took in 2007 for a home to find a buyer.
Average Sale Price 2007 vs 2008 YTD. 2008 started out strong in January with a higher Average Sale Price. April & May both also posted higher Average Sale Prices from 2007. The remaining 6 months of 2008 have experienced lower Average Sale Prices. Overall however, if you look at the average of all 9 months of 2008, we are dead even with 2007.
Am I being overly optimistic? I don’t think so. There hasn’t been a year like this in the 18 years that I’ve been a licensed REALTOR®. We have so many factors to take into consideration; an election year, the housing crisis, a major builder in Iowa going under; mortgage qualification guidelines have tightened just to name a few. All in all, we still have terrific interest rates! It’s a buyers market! We haven’t seen the kinds of declines in property values that other markets have. So if you’re on the fence as a buyer – JUMP OFF! or frustrated as a seller… HANG ON! This is a cyclical business. That AND THE ELECTIONS WILL BE OVER SOON!
Total Number of Homes For Sale in the Des Moines Metropolitan Area – 6,109
New Listings Taken During the Last 7 Days – 227
Accepted Offers (Pendings) During the Last 7 Days – 81
Homes Closed (Solds) During the Last 7 Days – 51
Average Sale Price of Solds – $173,360
Average Days On Market of Solds – 86
If you have specific questions about real estate for sale
in the Des Moines area, please feel free to contact me by Clicking Here.
Les Sulgrove, RE/MAX Real Estate Group
Information on this blog posting is for informational purposes only
and not intended as solicitation if you are already working with a REALTOR®.
There is no obligation or fee for any information on this blog posting.
Data Source: Les Sulgrove, RE/MAX Real Estate Group
Des Moines Area Association of REALTORS® MLS.
Des Moines Metropolitan Area defined as: Adel, Altoona,
Ankeny, Bondurant, Carlisle, Clive, Des Moines, Dallas Center,
Desoto, Granger, Grimes, Indianola, Johnston, Norwalk,
Pleasant Hill, Polk City, Urbandale, Van Meter ,Waukee,
West Des Moines, Windsor Heights, Winterset
