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August is typically a slower month in real estate in Chester County. People head “down the shore” and try to get in their last vacation before school begins around Labor day. This August, 2010 seemed to be even slower than normal and the statistics back it up.

As you can see in the [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]>

August is typically a slower month in real estate in Chester County. People head “down the shore” and try to get in their last vacation before school begins around Labor day. This August, 2010 seemed to be even slower than normal and the statistics back it up.

As you can see in the table above, the number of units sold were down (almost 20%) from August, 2009. The statistic that really shows, is the number of under contract listings, at 337. This number will be our future sold listings, but this probably was affected by the “tax credit hangover”. It’s still unclear what the recent buyer tax credit did for the market, though it certainly helped in the first quarter. Buyers did move their timetables forward for purchasing homes, which could be hurting us a bit now. We’re starting to see signs of life in the market, though.

While under contract and sold numbers went down, average and median prices went UP. About 8% on average and slightly higher for median prices. Days on market are not up significantly, but our current inventory accumulation is just under 11 months of inventory. There seems to be glimmers of increased activity and builders are starting to work on new homes, as well. Perhaps that’s a sign of things to come.

Until next month, see the PDF chart below for August, 2009 to August, 2010:

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As you can see from the chart above, May was a strong month compared to April for homes settled/sold. In comparison of year over year, May 2010 was much better than May 2009. Did the tax credit help? That’s not entirely clear. It possibly pushed a few more buyers to get off the fence [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]>

As you can see from the chart above, May was a strong month compared to April for homes settled/sold. In comparison of year over year, May 2010 was much better than May 2009. Did the tax credit help? That’s not entirely clear. It possibly pushed a few more buyers to get off the fence and purchase to take advantage, but in our experience, buyers weren’t rushing either. With plenty of inventory, many are still able to take their time and find their next home regardless of getting money from the government in return. All this activity did reduce the average days on market, as well.

So what did that do for the accumulation rate for May? Compared to May 2009, it dropped to 10 months of inventory. Year to date, May 2010, in Chester County, there were 140 condos and 1547 single family homes settled. That’s a 2% increase in condos and almost 20% increase in single family homes.

What was the effect of the tax credit (that ended April 30, 2010)? It’s still hard to say. There was a definite dip in May, and as stated above, it could be because people tried to get under contract before the due date. Does this mean buying will shut down again? Let’s hope not, but as we enter the summer cycle, ala slower sales, it’s too close to tell right now. The Fall may give us a better indication as that’s the second busiest season compared to Spring.

Here’s a detail sheet of the last year:

If you have any questions or would like more information your area, feel free to contact us. We’d be happy to help.

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As you can see from the numbers, both median and average home prices are up from one year ago (5% and 8% respectively). More positive numbers are under contracts (up 10% [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]> January’s gone, Puxatony Phil predicted more winter and we’ve just survived 2 major snowstorms. That must mean it’s time for January statistics.

As you can see from the numbers, both median and average home prices are up from one year ago (5% and 8% respectively). More positive numbers are under contracts (up 10% and sold listings (8%) have also risen. Also, compared to January, 2009, the number of listings for sale are down almost 8%. Residual inventory from month to month is also down again and has done so, consistently, since July. What does this mean for the absorption rate? It’s lowered to around 10 months of inventory.

While the numbers for January don’t show it, we have seen much more activity as the middle to end of month approached. Buyers are definitely looking to take advantage of the first time buyer credit (which also now covers move up buyers) before the April 30 deadline to have a fully executed agreement of sale.

We’ll need to see how the numbers play out in March. If you would like more detail about your area, don’t hesitate to contact us. We’ll be happy to help.

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Finishing the month of December, it’s a good time to see what happened in the month of November in the Chester County housing market. We had a HUGE month as sold listings jumped to 549 sold listings, the highest month this year. What contributed to this jump? Most likely the anticipation of the original [...] No related posts. Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]>

Finishing the month of December, it’s a good time to see what happened in the month of November in the Chester County housing market. We had a HUGE month as sold listings jumped to 549 sold listings, the highest month this year. What contributed to this jump? Most likely the anticipation of the original first time buyer credit end date of November 30. That was averted in mid-November when the date was extended to have an agreement of sale to April 30, 2010 and settlement by June 30, 2010. The anticipation, however, did drive many buyers to jump into the market and that’s reflected in the lower average and median home sale prices.

Holidays and the state of the market

As the holidays approached, new listings took a dip as did the under contract listings (our future sold listings). Though with the uncertainty in the markets and the presidential election, the same time last year was a very slow time. This year has been much better as we’re seeing some signs of stability. Having said that, due to the low number of under contract listings, the absorption rate (or months of inventory) did rise to almost 12 months of inventory. That’s high, but not unusual for this time of year as people think about the holidays and not necessarily buying or selling a house.

If you’d like to get local market information for your area, feel free to contact us by email or our contact page.

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Chester County Real Estate Statistics

Inventory

Sold History

From January-June Synopsis

Detail Real Estate Statistics for Chester, Montgomery, Delaware Counties