Have you or someone you know been out shopping for a home lately and had horror stories of multiple offers and a frustrating frenzy causing some folks to give up trying to buy a home? Good News- It’s getting better out there right now! I’m not saying the “good” ones don’t still go fast, but our supply of inventory is on the rise- which will make it easier for the Buyers out there to be a little more discerning when it comes to selecting their next home.
The chart below represents the # of months worth of homes available for purchase in the City of Chandler during years 2012 vs 2008 vs 2004.
The reason I chose those years in particular to compare to our current inventory levels is because 2004 was when the “liar loans” came into existence and blew the doors open on the demand for housing. It was due to the fact that so many more people could all of a sudden qualify to purchase a home with little or no $ down, which drove the prices up.
2012 and 2004 started out with almost exactly the same amount of inventory for the first quarter- the difference being that in 2004 the inventory continued to drop to an all time low of less than 1 month, where in 2012, we have been on a slight increase of our inventory since mid June of this year.
A happy place for Supply Vs. Demand for our local market is a 4-5 month inventory supply and we very well may be on the path to getting there if it continues on the rise as it’s been the last 2 months.
Compare that to 2008, right as the Foreclosure crisis started to hit us here locally and Short Sales began to make an impact (due to the Mortgage Forgiveness Act getting signed by Bush at the tail end of 2007) when at our peak, we had 18 MONTHS of inventory flooding our market that shot prices down exponentially.
This month, REO (lender owned/foreclosures) homes have dropped to a record low level just below 14% of our market, that is the first time we’ve seen that happen since January of 2008. At the PEAK of our Local Foreclosure Crisis (just 1 year later) in February of 2009, REO homes constituted 71% of our available inventory in our marketplace (In that 1 year alone, it jumped by 57%!).
Some more interesting stats (complements of the Cromford Report) just released are:
- Active listings are down by 34% from this time last year
- Monthly sales are down by 18%
- Average sales price is up 23%
- Median price has also jumped by 33% (from $109,000 to $145,000)
The LAW of Supply and Demand at it’s finest!
Those Sellers out there that have been waiting for prices to rise before they put their home on the market may want to pay attention and hurry to get theirs out there while it’s still a Sellers market! It may quickly become a Buyers Market again if our supply continues to rise making it easier for Buyers to get good deals- without being in those infamous bidding wars.
If you or someone you know needs the help of a Professional Experienced Real Estate Company, please call us for help at 480-243-4242 or click get started here and we’ll be happy to help however we can!
