It's a sunny Saturday morning here in Carthage. The maple leaves are starting to turn, and it's time to take a look at last month's real estate sales statistics. Almost all the sales in this area pass through the Ozark Gateway Board of Realtors MLS, based out of Joplin. Those are the statistics I'll be using today. I'll talk about the Springfield board another day.
Those of you in very concentrated urban markets may not be used to having more than one MLS to consider, but when you start looking at real estate to the east of Carthage, Springfield board listings start creeping in, and for properties to the north of Carthage and south of Joplin, there are also other rural boards. The Joplin Board recorded 184 sales for September 2007, down from 201 sales in September 2006. In the city of Carthage itself, there were 20 sales in September of 2007 versus 26 for the same month last year. Keep in mind, this is residential only. We also have substantial farm, vacant land, and commercial sales which I'll address in another entry.
The years 2004 through 2006 had a continuous upward trend in annual sales, and like many markets, our 2007 has been a slower year thus far. However, Southwest Missouri is not having the level of difficulty that some areas have experienced. I believe this is because the boom was never quite as boom-y here. Prices and sales defnitely went up in the last few years, but didn't spiral up so far as in more "glamorous" areas.
We have our share of high-end homes, but the average person can afford an average home here, which is a really nice feeling for me as an agent. The median residential sales price for September was...drum roll...$93,500. All right, not as lucrative for an agent as Southeast Florida, where I was also a Realtor. But it is a great feeling knowing that people can buy a house without straining their budget to the utmost limit and sometimes beyond.
I'll see you next time, when I hope to blog with a few images to give you a feel for Carthage and its surroundings. This is an absolutely beautiful area!
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