Forrest’s Blog

Are you a Winner at a Losing Game? 

You may be if you continue to take listings that you love, but at listing prices that will not love you in return.  Rascal Flatts certainly didn’t have over-priced listings in mind when releasing “Winner at a Losing Game”, but the lyrics sure capture the pain of not “dancing to the same beat”.  Seventy percent of April’s closings finally sold after causing seller’s and listing agents many months of time and money to get the desired results.

However, there is even more positive news in the numbers this month . . . but let’s first download and take a look at: April 2008 Resale Market Snapshot.

There are now properties coming on the market “in the selling zone” that are selling in a relative short timeframe while those “out of the selling zone” are just aging in MLS without selling.  Approximately 30% of April closings (those in the selling zone at listing) were under 90 days on the market with an average of 59 Days on Market.  That is up from 25% based on March closings. The remaining 70% suffered an average of 224 Days on Market (that’s nearly 8 months … definitely out of the selling zone).

Listing prices have now dropped over 12.3% in the past six months while closed sales are up over 103% since their low in December. April closed sales represent a 21% improvement over March; more importantly, this is the first month in 2008 that closing are up over the same month in 2007. Closed sales prices continue to decline bringing more buyers off the sidelines and into the market. At the same time overall inventory continues to decline. The average Cumulative Days on Market is dipped to 174 days while too many listings remain woefully overpriced.

Okay, let’s look at some more good news: Dowload the Under Contract Chart. This chart illustrates actual contract written on a monthly basis since January 2007.  The actual number are less important that the trend - which is showing a steep increase and is a leading indicator of future closings.

Stay Focused on  Price Reductions!