By Mike Bodeen · 9 September 2019
September Listing Supply Down 43%
The Cromford® Market Index is over 200 for the first time since 2005, the market is obviously hot and remains unbalanced, favoring sellers. Demand is about 8% above normal, which is strong but not too unusual. What’s unusual is that listing supply is 43% below normal. We have had supply below normal ever since May 2011. but the weak flow of new listings has exacerbated the situation.
Current Market stats continue to show a strong but reasonable market. Phoenix-Metro appreciation, along with Las Vegas are among the cities leading the nation in rising sales prices. Here is the latest:
Active Listings: 13,609 vs 16,222 last year – down 16.1% – and down 1.0% from 13,746 last month
Under Contract Listings: 10,318 vs 8,871 last year – up 16.3% – but down 3.1% from 10,653 last month
Monthly Sales: 8,810 versus 8,253 last year – up 6.7% – but down 5.8% from 9,348 last month
Monthly Average Sales Price per Sq. Ft: $168.99 vs $161.27 last year – up 4.8% – but down 0.42% from $169.66 last month
Monthly Median Sales Price: $280,000 vs $262,000 last year – up 6.9% – and unchanged from $280,000 last month
When I say reasonable, I refer to moderate and steady appreciation (5% – 7%). Along with near historically low mortgage rates, the buyer affordability window remains open. For now. With 200 new residents arriving each day, we count each day a buyer blessing.
As the market continues to suffer a severe shortage of inventory, let’s take a look at which price ranges are most affected. Months of Supply is a very seasonal measure. Therefore, we compare the number of listings for August 31, 2019 with that for September 1, 2018 to eliminate seasonal effect. Here is the result:
(Thanks again to Michael Orr of the Cromford Report for his data and perspective)
Market data referenced in this article comes from The Cromford Report.