Thursday, February 26, 2009

Home Sales Slow in January But Inventory Down Too

January numbers from NAR (National Association of Realtors) came out yesterday with home sales dropping to a 12 year low. Despite these poor sales figures, inventory levels are down 2.7%. December through February is our 'slow season' so the drop is not surprising considering all the other factors at play. The newly signed stimulus package, no matter the true impact, will give may buyers and homeowners the confidence to enter or re-enter the housing market and will provide for an additional 900,000 sales in 2009 according to the report.

The full article can be seen here:

http://www.realtor.org/press_room/news_releases/2009/02/january_ehs_inventory

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Home Sale Stats - January 2009

January sales figures are in...you can view them here.

Compare to last year and you can see that while things have changed, some things are strikingly similar. In Montclair, inventory levels for single family homes are up about 15%. Closed sales in January 2009 are way down compared to last year, of course these sales went under contract 2-3 months ago which puts us back to October/November 2008 when NOBODY wanted to buy a house (that is of course you saw and seized on an opportunity that still exists...more on that later). However a telling stat here is that pending sales, those that went under contract in the month, are almost identical to last year and are the highest we have seen since Sep '08.

Considering all the doom and gloom we hear everyday regarding the national real estate market, things are not looking that bad for us in Montclair.