The Somers Point Market - 2nd Quarter of 2007

SOMERS POINT MARKET
Somers Point appeared to take a hit during the first quarter of 2007, as that quarter's median sale price fell drastically from $289,000 in 2006 to $214,000 in 2007, a drop of 26%. When looking at those numbers, we need to consider that the first quarter of 2007 saw a high ratio of sales for homes in need of renovation with 7 of the 16 homes sold in need of serious renovation. As mentioned in last quarter's newsletter, in a buyers market the prohibitive value of a necessary correction greatly increases as there are more homes on the market from which to choose.
For this past quarter, contract sales in Somers Point have remained in line with the same time last year and there is only a slight increase in inventory of unsold homes from the same time last year. Looking at the 2nd quarter of 2007 compared to the 2nd quarter of 2006 Somers Point looks much healthier with only a 1% drop in median sale price and a 5% drop in average sale price. However, the length of time a home is on the market has increased almost 50%.
Nationally there is notable concern regarding increased available inventory. But when looking at Somers Point, our seasonal pattern has not changed. At the time of this newsletter, according to the Multiple Listing Service, there were 82 single family homes for sale with 31 homes selling last quarter, the year before there were 77 homes for sale with also 31 homes sold the previous quarter. These numbers show that as seasonal housing patterns go, Somers Point remains in line with the same parameters as this time last year, only seeing a notable increase in days on market.