Friday, January 11, 2008

2007 - The Complete Month-to-Month Market Update

In January, 2007, I wrote a blog entitled "Knowing Exactly When the Market will Change" that received many comments, replies and supportive feedback. In that blog, I stated that I felt that as soon as we have 3 consecutive months when more inventory is going off (under contract) than is coming on (new listings) we can expect to once again experience an appreciating market.

Hot off the "Actual Statistics" press, it is now time for my January update (December, 2007 statistics) of how the real estate market is faring in my area of the country - the Massachusetts North Shore, north of Boston. The area of observation consists of 22 towns on the North Shore and considers only SINGLE FAMILY homes for comparison.

So how did we do in December and thus far this year? In December, 127 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 143 homes went under contract. That marks the first time in 12 months that more homes SOLD in a single month than came on the market. Unfortunately, this is proving to be common for the month of December as last December we experienced the same occurence and is likely a result of sellers taking their homes off the market for the holidays or waiting until the new year to place their homes on the market.

Except for December, every month in 2007 showed more homes coming ON than going OFF the market. In January, that difference was +195, in February, +135; in March, +287; in April, +288; in May, +315, in June +255, in July +129, in August +142, in September +236, in October +130 and in November +50.

That's 2,143 more homes that came on vs. went off during the year 2007.

So, what does this mean in general for our market area? It means that we continue to remain in a DEPRECIATING market and will remain there until this trend reverses.Here's a recap of the previous 11 months:

In November, 247 single family homes came on the market on the North shore and 197 homes went under contract.
In October, 375 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 245 homes went under contract.
In September, 463 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 227 homes went under contract.
In August, 405 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 259 homes went under contract.
In July, 442 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 313 homes went under contract.
In June, 554 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 299 homes went under contract.
In May, 655 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 340 homes went under contract.
In April, 550 single family homes came on the market in the North shore and 262 homes went under contract.
In March, 543 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 256 homes went under contract.
In February, 377 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 242 homes went under contract.
In January, 404 single family homes came on the market on the North Shore and 209 single family homes went under contract.

The message: Real estate values will continue to decline until this trend reverses.

Part of the solution? Sellers need to recognize that it is no longer 2005 and price their homes ahead of the declining price curve. As you can see, many homes are selling, but they are the ones that are priced properly and AHEAD of the declining value curve.

I will provide another update again in the beginning of February (for the month of January, 2008) and we'll take a look and see if the market is changing or if we can expect more of the same for a while.

Regards, Jay Burnham, VP
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage
North Shore, Massachusetts
http://www.thecoldwellbankerguy.com/

10 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:49 AM

    Nice market report. We see lots of different takes on them, and like the idea of every one. Expert in market knowledge in your area is the thing to be.

    cheers

    Gary and Richard Bolen

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  2. Anonymous10:50 AM

    Very clear report. In addition to Sellers being reasonable about price, it would be nice if they would realize that they would be better off NOT to sell right now at all (if possible).

    Chris Price

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  3. Anonymous10:51 AM

    Hey Jay. This is a very comprehensive report on your market. I found it to be very interesting as I read through the many details. Thanks

    Don Bradbury

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  4. Anonymous10:52 AM

    I like this observation. I've never really considered it for my local area but it does show the supply demand relationship very well. Thanks for pointing it out.

    Ron Allen

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  5. Anonymous10:53 AM

    Great informative post. More agents need to understand these market dynamics.

    Beth S.

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  6. Anonymous10:54 AM

    Jay,

    Nice summary of the depreciating market.

    KP

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  7. Anonymous10:55 AM

    Excellent post! I loved the format! Good job!

    Bob M.

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  8. Anonymous10:56 AM

    Terrific post.You make it very clear and it does make sense. It looks like your sales have caught up with the inventory.

    Lloyd N.

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  9. Anonymous10:56 AM

    You certainly put raw data into a form that everyone can understand. It's so critical to be ahead of the market instead of constantly following it.

    Sharon S.

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  10. Anonymous4:25 PM

    very interesting. I loved your blog. I have just started mine and after reading yours I want to delete everything I wrote so far. It sounds so immature. Well, I only became an agent last October, expecting my broker's licence now.
    Anyway I put you in my favorites!
    I am surprised how low the prices for the houses are compared to those in California. I think one day I'll end up moving from here...

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