December and January are not big sales months as buyers are busy in other areas of their lives. But the Terravita real estate market had a solid month, with 5 homes going under contract and 7 closings. Those are not earth-shattering numbers historically, but given the market, we are in, they are quite good. The monthly sales price average also came in right in line with what we have been seeing. Those out there awaiting the “inevitable” market crash should find that a bit disappointing.
Why It matters:
After the May market shift many have predicted – and expected – huge drops in home pricing. So far, It ain’t happening. Our monthly Market at a Glance chart below illustrates that nicely:
The gray line in the graph above looks the most interesting. That is the average price per foot over the 30 days of each month. But with at most 15 closings in a month, this small sample size can give one a very skewed sense of the market. Some months there are only 2 or 3 closings!
The brown line in the graph above is much more interesting and accurate. That is the average price per foot over the preceding 365 days. That represents much more data over a longer period and gives us a more reliable representation. Our most recent market shift happened in May, and as you can see on the brown line, there has been very little movement since then.
And . . . the market has a startling new trend that suggests pricing could be ready to begin a new ascent! (For more on that, see the 1 Big Thing below)
Go Deeper
Demand is still a little low, but it is improving. Buyers don’t much like interest rates around 6%, but they like them a whole lot more than rates over 7%. But supply is collapsing. There have been only 4,875 new listings added to the Valleys’ real estate market in the last 4 weeks. This time last year, we had over 7,000!
Here you can see the active listing trendline:
Go Deeper into Terravita Data: