Time for stats reports...forget going for a massage, manicure, or game of pick up ball at the gym. Real estate market stats are totally exciting! You need to pay attention because there is a test at the end...Here is where our local markets currently stand. Here is what is occurring in the city of Salem in real estate...
Average Sales price:
Well...you may remember me saying in my last quarterly report, that the plateau we were seeing was a possible indicator of stabilization in our market.
Clearly that was presumptuous. I really should have stuck with my original thoughts which was that high inventory was going to finally catch up with us.
There is a normal real estate dip in September due to August being a huge vacation month. From September of last year there has been an 8.5% drop in price. From last month there has been 12.2% drop in the average sold price.
With the financial markets still in flux, I would be surprised if there was a significant bump back up in October.
30 day Absorption Rate/Inventory:
Salem has a current absorption rate of 117. This places the current Salem inventory at 13 months.
Home Sales Closed:
In the 3nd quarter this year, 424 homes closed on the market. That is down 27 % from the same time frame last year when 581 homes closed in the third quarter. Sales volume is still off, and with the current financial markets, I don't see these numbers looking any better.
New Home Construction:
New home sales were even from the same quarter last year. The average new home construction price is $318,310 down 2.7% from the same time frame last year. September home prices dropped 14% in September over August.
Condominiums :
The condo market in Salem continues to be a very small portion of our market. With the Meridian, Riverfront, and Church St condos getting close to completion, those numbers are going to make these numbers go up. All of those condos are in the luxury condo market range. So currently prices are fairly stable, but this chart may look artificially high in the coming months as they sell a few of those condos. Since the sold numbers are so small, one luxury sale will have a large impact on the average sales price.
Luxury Market ($500,000+):
There was a 77.7% decrease in luxury home sales from the same time as last year. The luxury market continues to suffer as lenders strengthen debt to income ratios, and tighten lending standards. This portion of our market has almost come to a standstill in the past two years. There was a peak in August, which was due to a 22% drop in the average price. Someone got motivated to sell.
(c) Copyright, 2008. Melina Tomson, All Rights Reserved (ie...be nice and create your own content. Don't steal mine...)
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