What Numbers Tell Us
It’s not news that the real estate market and the economy have not been friendly over the past few years. Beginning in April of 2010 the Federal Government is going to start backing out of the direct mortgage involvement. No one knows what that really means…if anything. I’m going to run down what’s been going on in Caroline VA over the past two years. Why? Because it doesn’t really matter what happens everywhere else. Real Estate marketing is global, but markets are local.
The source for all market stats is the Metropolitan Regional Information System (MRIS). The MLS system that serves a majority of Caroline County.
Median Price (For Sale, Under Contract and Solds)
In the span of the past two years, we’ve seen a slow decline of properties that have been listed “For Sale”. About 22% fewer homes are on the market now, than two years ago when the real estate market really started to feel the strains of the changing economy.
There are 35% fewer homes under contract than two years ago and 12% fewer have been sold. 12% fewer being sold isn’t that disturbing considering there are 35% fewer listings.
Homes Under Contract
The really good news is that from December 2007 till December 2009 the number of homes that have been going under contract has risen 148%. However, before you get too excited a few of those are short sale listings and not all of those will actually close the first time a contract is ratified. Still, it’s good to see that some consumer interest in the market has slightly increased.
Real Estate Days on the Market
The question most often asked is how long will my home be on the market before getting a contract? The answer is about 10% less time than two years ago and that isn’t very comforting for some. I think that an unhealthy expectation was established in 2004 to 2007 when homes were selling and closing in under two months. In December 2009 the average days on the market for the homes that actually when under contract was about 81 days. Again, this is the DOM for the homes when they actually went under contact. You can refer to Median Price graph to see that only about 80% of homes listed actually went under contract and only about 69% went to closing.
Professional Advice
Hopefully if you’re a numbers person this information has been helpful. We spend a lot of time looking over data and watching it change. In comparison to the surrounding counties, it remains a bit more challenging to sell in Caroline. This makes it all the more important to partner with a local professional who knows how to get exposure to your listing and guage market information to ensure that the efforts are in tune with the market conditions.
