Welcome to my January 2008 report on the state of the real estate market for Geauga County. Please feel free to refer to last month's posting to watch for changes.

As a service to all potential buyers and sellers, I would be happy to provide you with statistics on your county, your town, your price range, etc. so you can get a clear picture of how many homes are selling and how long they take to sell. To give you an overall picture of Geauga County as a whole, I've included a few statistics for your review!

The current trend (as of January, 2008) is a decrease in the number of homes for sale. In January of 2007 there were 755 homes on the market, of which 43 sold. That represents an average of about 17 months for homes to sell. Compare that to January of 2008 which had 701 homes on the market, of which 30 sold. That represents an average of about 25 months for homes to sell.

Statistics don't mean much if you don't understand how they work. Those numbers sound kind of frightening, right? But you have to keep in mind that prices are still correcting and many sellers still don't understand that pricing their homes to sell at or below market average is part of what it takes to get homes sold.

Something else to consider is that less homes are on the market during winter and more are on the market during spring and summer months. When you look at the statistics over time, it always looks like a wave, rising and falling as the seasons go by.

If you would like to receive a free copy of a market report, please contact me. I'd be happy to help! If you'd like to learn more about what it takes to sell in a correcting or down market, let me know! My team specializes in home staging and aggressive marketing. We would love to sit down and talk about your situation any time!