Home Prices vs. Home Sales

I have spoken to many colleagues here in North Georgia. We are all having this debate. Home prices are up, home sales remain steady. Lack of inventory is not helping anyone but the homeowners who are taking advantage of the current market. Homes that are priced competitively go under contract within the first 30 days, many times over list price. I ran across this article in DS News. Apparently North Georgia is not the only market that is battling these problems.

Home prices in February hit a four-year high, capping a 72-month run in which median home values rose nationally, according to a report by Redfin.

But just because the home prices went up does not mean home sales went up. While national median prices rose almost 9 percent (to $285,000) in February, the number of homes for sale dropped more than 11 percent from January and were flat compared to a year ago. While prices continue to rise, this was the 29th consecutive month inventory suffered.

Only six of 73 metros saw home sales grow by double digits from last year, the report said. Louisville led the nation in year-over-year sales growth, up 25 percent, followed by Greenville, South Carolina, which was up 18 percent.

Inventory dropped most in New York State, where three metros saw downswings compared to last year. Inventory in Rochester and Buffalo dropped 40 percent and in Albany, 30 percent. Atlanta also posted a 33 percent decline in inventory.

As availability and affordability continue to constrain the market, interest in buying a home is humming along nicely. Time on the market for homes sold in February was 53 days, a week faster than a year earlier.

That’s just the average. In Seattle, half of all homes pending sales closed in just eight days, which is four days faster than it was a year earlier. Denver and San Jose reported closings in nine and 10 median days on the market, respectively. Homes in Oakland and San Francisco spent two weeks on the market.

Click here to see the complete article