Which Realtor Knows Best?

We ended 2023 with rewarding results, and January began the New Year with a market that is stable, interest rates trending downward, oil prices remaining high, no significant decline in prices, a shortage of Resale homes, and homes sold quickly; so long as they showed well, and were priced right, sold quickly. So, a long list of reasons why there is hope for 2024. Unless, the Middle East and Ukraine gets worse, Iran moves too close to getting “the bomb”, North Korea pushes the “button” and China interferes in our election. Other than that Mrs Lincoln, how did you like the play!

January ended the month with a total of (317) Available homes on the market. Of these, (255) were New Homes and (62) were Resales. I report these numbers because they provide an indication of where the market is headed. And, just like Punxsutawney Phil predicted an early Spring, I did not see the market casting a “shadow” either. So, good news! It looks like our Spring selling season should come early too.

RESALES: ​

January results were witness to an ideal way to start the year; where home prices, average price per square foot and the number of homes Sold were all consistent with previous months. Also, rewarding to see was that the “Months of Supply” actually decreased. This stat, coupled with very low inventory, should help home prices remain stable. And, considering what we went thru last year, stability would be a welcomed change!

NEW HOMES:  ​

The market for New Homes was a “mirror image” of the Resales; excepting a slight decline in prices. Yet, that was due to building lower priced homes, rather than reducing prices on existing ones. This is confirmed by the fact that the Price Per Square Foot has not varied in 6-months. The results for both the number of homes Sold and the Months of Supply were also distorted because so many of the homes were under construction.