The data (courtesy of MAAR) for July 2017 is in, and the results are consistent with what we’ve been seeing for quite some time. The data – compared with one year prior, in July 2016 – are as follows;
1. New Inventory for the month is down, by -3.9%
2. Housing inventory – overall – is down, by -18.3%
3. The median sales price is up, by +5.9%
4. Closed sales are down, by -2.6%
There are many, pre-approved buyers, ready to purchase. The issue is inventory. Certainly the lower levels of inventory put upward pressure on pricing. +5.9% is above average (in a balanced market, it should be @ 3.0%, +/-).
I also hear the same thing among friends of mine in the Realtor and Lending world; inventory is the issue. And this is not a new thing.
Lastly, this inventory problem is NOT predicted to change, anytime soon.
Interesting. We’re really in a seller’s market again. The news nationally is that the housing market is seeing some difficulty with low inventory. **Reminder; all real estate is local. Thus, local stats and analysis are necessary for our Minneapolis/St. Paul metro market.
Summarized, the analysis is; A) We have a very low inventory. We’re at just over 2 months of housing inventory. This means we’re in a seller’s market, and that there are more buyer’s than homes available. A balanced market (between buyer’s and seller’s, is defined as roughly 5-6 months of inventory/supply. B) This low inventory has slowed down the number of sales, thus overall sales transactions are down – YTD – by @ 20%. C) This low inventory, which creates the seller’s market with more buyer’s than homes available has caused housing prices to increase, by over 5% so far, YTD. Some prime areas in our local market have seen significantly larger increases in pricing, YTD. Again, supply and demand. D) I’ll add: I’m hearing from bother lenders and realtors, about lender’s appraisal issues again (coming in low – it’s been a couple/few years since the last outbreak of this plague: And I call it a plague this time, as I’m not terribly worried about the fundamentals of current home value increases – my only concern is for the mid and long term with respect to what an increase in interest rates above 5.5/6.0% will do).
The takeaway for Sellers, or people considering selling their home: Get your home on the market. The timing is optimal. The takeaway for Buyers: Be prepared to get into multiple offer scenarios. Be comfortable with this notion. Follow the lead of your Realtor in how best to navigate this process, and also when you’re reaching the upper limit on fair market value for your prospective home. Have your lender’s pre-approval letter ready, and don’t ‘sleep on it’ overnight, or over the weekend, if you think it’s the right home. Aggressively move on it right away. It will most likely be gone when you awake in the morning.