July

 2007

2008 

New Listings
Median List Price
List Price Range

75
$525K
$213.2K - $4.35M

Listings Sold
Median Sale Price
Sale Price Range

21
$580,000
$319.9K - $2.3M

Av. Days On Market
Av. List To Sale %

185.3
96.3

Price Reductions 

In comparing this July to last July we see a fairly consistent number of new listings and a nearly $25,000 increase in the median list price.  The bottom end appears much lower than the prior year, though there was only the one house that was listed for $139,900 - the next least expensive was $209,500 which wasn't too far off of '07's lowest list price of $213,200.

Sold properties were pretty consistent between the two years as well.  Don't be alarmed by the lower median sales price - as a matter of fact, this may prove to be a sign of market recovery.  Of the 19 homes sold, 12 had a sales price under $400,000.  This shows that buyers are shopping the bottom end of the market (and why wouldn't they?).  Market recoveries generally do start at the bottom because buyers are limiting their risk.

Days on market are down, too, and average list to sale percentages are only down one percent.  Interestingly, there was a lower percentage of price reductions in the sold properties this year than last - this could be the result (as with lower days on market) that sellers are pricing their homes more aggressively to sell from the get-go instead of listing higher and reducing prices again and again before they get an offer.

The reduced number of days on market and the more competitive pricing means that buyers will be watching with eagle-eyes for new listings, especially bank-owned homes and will pounce.