Friday, October 21, 2011

September Sales up Nearly 9%...Should I be excited?

While that is a good number, anytime we can see a positive number like that it's a good thing, There is another side to it. The Average price of those sales is down another -2.63%. Cincinnati has posted a third month with an increase in sales, however, a third month with a decrease in average price. We are still down on the year compared to this time in 2010 and we're down across the board on those numbers.


I have to say...all in all...not as bad as I had expected.  Homes are selling, but clearly the motivating factor in Buying a home is the price.  (Did you hear that Mr. and Mrs. Seller?)  Yes, your home can sell, but No, not likely for the amount that you would want, or perhaps need.

So, September overall looked like this:
We are likely up in September of 2011 because sales in September of 2010 were pretty slow after the Home Buyer Tax Credit ended.  Folks just needed to take a break, and most of the good inventory had been picked from the market.  What was left in 2010 was...shall we say, less than move in ready.  

Moving forward, I do expect us to return to a bit more normalcy, as sellers are smarter and more realistic about price and have gotten pretty creative in marketing their homes and attracting buyers.  Buyers continue to take their time to pick through the inventory, however, and that tends to slow things down a bit.   We'll move into the holiday season and likely see a normal reduction in sales - but we will see some sales!  

If you are looking at these numbers and thinking, how does this affect my home in my area then send me an email.  I will be happy to provide you with an Market Position Analysis showing you just how your home would stack up in today's market.  I do this for free, because I'm a nice guy and, well, You should know how your investment is doing.

Chris Wood
chris@chrisjwood.com