April sales were 5,539 in Ada County, a decrease of 20% compared to April 2010.
However...April 2010 was the final push for the tax credit. April 2010 sales were 59% ahead of 2009.
Year-to-date 2011 sales are within 3% of YTD 2010.
Historically, April sales increase by an average of just 5% over March. This year is consistent with that as April sales are 3% higher than March 2011 sales.
Of our total sales in April… 56% were distressed….down 1% from March 2011. (Short sales 19% and REO’s 36%). Distressed sales continue to dominate the market...but do show some decrease in number.
Pending sales at the end of April were 975; and increase of 5% from the end of March. This is four consecutive monthly increases. The percentage of pending sales in distress decreased 4% from March 2011 totaling 48% overall. This is our second consecutive month’s decrease. This is the first time we’ve been below 50% in 10 months. In 2010, with the expiration of the tax credit, pending sales fell by 350 from April 30 to May 31. A test of our recovery will be the pending sales at the end of this month.
The number of houses available for sale at the end of April was 2,625; unchanged from March 26% less than last year at this time. Currently available inventory compares to February 2006.
At the same time, the percentage of active inventory that is distressed dropped almost 2% from March to 37%. This is the second consecutive monthly decline and keeps us below the 40% levels set last spring....when we were on the increase.
In Ada County we have 5 months of inventory on hand…historically this number defines a “seller’s market”. The price category in shortest supply is <$100,000 with 2.5 months available. This is closely followed by the $100,000 to $120,000 with 3.5 months and $120,000 to $159,000 with 4.4 months. These are the lowest numbers in more than a year!
There is also positive news on some of the higher priced inventory; $500,000 to $699,999 inventory dropped by 10 months from the end of March to 13.6.
April median home price decreased held steady; down only $2,000 from March to $135,000, down 10% from April 2010.
New Homes median price for April 2011 was $1212,000, an increase of almost 18% from April 2010.
We continue to “benefit” from inventory levels much lower than national average.
Now we are starting to see a “clearing” of distressed properties, with fewer coming on-line.
From where I sit, we’ve done all that can be done to build sustainability into our local market. I can even see us having a summer with sales exceeding last year.
The true test ahead of us now is how to prevent numerous federal policy shifts that will stall us in our tracks and erase the gains of the last year.
From the Ada County Association of Realtors, Marc Lebowitz
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