Are you in BUYER'S market too

We have all heard that real estate market conditions can vary on a very local level.  I was recently surprised to see that for certain price ranges and neighborhoods in the Atlanta Metro Area we are actually in what many would consider a buyer's market by definition.  The metric that is most commonly used to determine whether it is a buyer's or seller's market is known as months of inventory.  This figure can be found in a report that we call an absorption report.  It shows based on the number of homes that sold last month and the number of current active listings, how long it would take for the market to "absorb" all of the existing inventory if no new homes came on the market and the sales pace continued at a constant rate.  Generally, many consider anything less than 6 months of inventory to be a Seller's market and 6 months to be a perfectly balanced market.  There are actually some market segments that have less than 6 months of inventory according to the February 2008 absorption report from the First Multiple Listing Service.  Don't be mislead by the media.  If you are a seller who wants to make sure that your home will sell or if you want to buy and make sure you are getting a fair deal given the market conditions, make sure you look closely at your local numbers to know what the true local market conditions are in your neighborhood.