The first half of the year is behind us, and we're officially on the backside of 2008. There were some surprising conclusions that came out of the market in the first half of the year, namely that the time it took to sell a home was less, yet prices were stable or falling in most areas except for Blacksburg. Despite that, June's absorption rate showed balanced markets in Dublin and Christiansburg, with a SELLER'S market in Blacksburg.
When it comes to absorption rates, we're looking at how long it would take to sell the existing residential inventory in a particular area, if nothing else came on the market until supply was exhausted. Anything over 5 months is typically a buyers' market, and anything less than 5 months is typically a seller's market.
| Area | Active | Sold |
Absorption Rate | Buyer/Seller Market |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blacksburg | 219 |
52 | 4.21 Months | Seller |
| Christiansburg | 257 | 41 |
6.27 Months | Buyer |
| Montgomery County | 73 |
6 |
12.71 Months | Buyer |
| Floyd County | 117 | 5 | 23.40 Months | Buyer |
| Giles County | 59 | 7 | 8.43 Months | Buyer |
| Pulaski | 103 | 8 | 12.88 Months | Buyer |
| Dublin | 117 | 13 |
9.00 Months | Buyer |
| Radford | 95 |
18 | 5.28 Months | Balanced - Buyer |
Sort of standard fare for July, the same thing we've seen for much of the year. While there have been major fluctuations within various areas (Floyd County was 12 months of inventory in June, 23 in July), the overall average has been pretty consistent. That's a good sign. Why? The market's not overreacting, one way or another to news. It'll be interesting in the remainder of the year to see how HR 3221 moves the markets, but for now the trend has been slow and steady. And in Blacksburg, even included a little appreciation, which is a good thing!
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