July 2016
Even as prices rise in many communities, homes are selling faster now than they
have in the past several years. This creates a situation where buyers need to move
fast in order to secure homes, and they may have to pay more for them. While
increasing prices generally coax more selling activity, there has been some
hesitancy among potential sellers who worry that they will not be able to buy a
desirable and reasonably priced home once they sell.
New Listings were up 7.1 percent to 1,523. Pending Sales increased 13.9 percent to
1,237. Inventory grew 7.6 percent to 4,899 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 5.0 percent to $162,692. Days
on Market decreased 20.0 percent to 72 days, the twelfth consecutive month of year-over-year declines. Months Supply of Inventory remained flat at 4.9
Low housing supply has already prevented an outright national boon in sales
activity, despite a continuation of near record-low mortgage rates and an
unemployment rate under 5.0 percent deep into 2016. The issue is not purchasing
power. Many areas are falling behind last year's closed sales totals simply because
of lack of available inventory. As this continues, higher prices may put a deeper
squeeze on the current buyer pool.
Information courtesy of CMLS*
