We are continuing to see positive changes in the real estate market. Builders are confident in the current work load and in what is coming in the near future. Over the last few months builders have been able to hold onto their confidence as they see a light at the end of the tunnel. In September there was a 5.2 percent increase in permits and in October there was an increase of 6.2 percent. These increases will soon result in an improvement to the housing market.
Back in October the real estate market saw a 1.8 percent drop in homes available for sale, leaving us with 2.13 million available properties. This current inventory gives the market about a five month supply of homes according to the current rate of sales per month. These numbers -compared to last year’s- show that there are fewer homes on the market and they are going for higher prices. The increase in prices brings the median home price to $199,500; an increase of 12.8 from the following October (2013). The real estate market has seen this steady growth for 11 consecutive months.
Even with a sales drop of 3.2 percent (along with the 1.8 percent drop in inventory) overall sales are still better than they were at the end of 2012. In fact, they are 6 percent higher and we are coming up on 30 months of growing sales numbers. There are always fluctuations in the market, but what is promising about our current market is that even with drops in sales, we are on a road to positive change. There will be a major factor that helps even out the supply and demand, and that major factor is new home construction. As more and more permits come in and construction begins, the new housing will meet the buyer demand and the market will continue to improve.
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