There has been a lot of press lately reporting that the market has shifted. Prices are flattening, inventory is rising, sales are falling. During February, sales were down 4.3% from the previous year. This however was an improvement in the trend of double digit declines that we saw during the fourth quarter. We are seeing houses stay on the market a bit longer and also more price reductions. Inventory is also higher than it was in 2018 with more new listings coming online and fewer sales.
In my recent experience, I have seen some really good houses get multiple offers and some good homes sit on the market for quite awhile. Buyers are picky and it is really hard to tell which homes are going to go fast and those that will sit.
March will be an important month. Will we see a continuation of the improvement in the recent trend that we saw in February or will we see another dip? If you look at slide #6 in the slideshow below you see that the contracts accepted during the first two months in March are lagging behind. Enjoy the slideshow and please let me know if you have any questions or comments.
Data is from the IRES MLS system and compiled by Neil Kearney.
