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Community Corner

Fort Hunt Real Estate Sales Volume Gets a Boost in October

October fared better than September with regards to sales volume.

Hello Fort Hunters! 

Hard to believe that Thanksgiving is here and the holiday season is upon us. 

Let us take a quick look at the October 2012 real estate statistics in our community, and see how our market fared last month.

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The chart below shows a huge increase in sales volume month over month (October 2012 compared to September 2012), and a nominal increase in volume year over year. If you remember, or read our column last month, we had a very low sold volume in September 2012.  Our closed sales are up both year over year and month over month.  Both our average sold price and median sold prices are down year over year and month over month, but as we often discuss in this column, this should not be alarming, as our price points span from the low 400’s to multi-million dollar homes. This variance in price points can lead to variances in the average and median pricing statistics, depending on what price point homes sold for in the previous month. Interestingly, our average sold price as compared to original list price was down both year over year and month over month. This is an indication that homes in our area sold for 7% less than the original list prices.  Many of these homes had implemented price reductions in order to generate an offer.  It is always difficult for home sellers to remember that the value of a home is ultimately only determined by the buyer/market. Our days on market went up both month over month but went down year over year.  We, as agents, continue to see well priced homes go under contract very quickly.

Statistic

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Values

Year over Year

Month over Month

Total Sold Dollar Volume

$8,458,400

-6.24%

+78.98%

Closed Sales

16

+14.29%

+100%

Median Sold Price

$550,000

-8.49%

-3.93%

Average Sold Price

$528,650

-17.96%

-10.51%

Average Days on Market

54 days

-48.08%

+125%

Average Sold to Original List Ratio

93.42%

-0.69%

-3.27

The chart below shows year over year fluctuations. There are many reiterations of the chart above, but it is a way to look at just the year over year comparison. You will notice that the units sold year over year have a variance of only two units. We see a significant drop in days on market year to year, and this is largely due to low inventory. When buyers locate a well-priced home that comes on the market, they are reacting much faster than last year to secure the home purchase.

Sold Summary

 

 

 

 

Oct-12

Oct-11

% Change

Sold Dollar Volume

$8,458,400

$9,020,900

-6.24%

Average Sold Price

$528,650

$644,350

-17.96%

Median Sold Price

$550,000

$601,000

-8.49%

Units Sold

16

14

14.29%

Average Days on Market

54

104

-48.08%

Average List Price for Solds

$553,959

$662,086

-16.33%

Average Sold Price to Original List Price Ratio

93.40%

94.10%

-0.69%

Below is a quick look at our inventory situation year over year. You can see that we have five fewer active listings than this month last year. We have three more new listings than this month last year.  Under contracts/pending totals are up significantly, almost 93 percent year over year!  This reflects back to the discussion above showing that buyers are hungry for new, well-priced listings.

Inventory

 

 

 

 

Oct-12

Oct-11

% Change

Active Listings

54

59

-8.47%

New Listings

21

18

16.67%

New Under Contracts

5

2

150.00%

New Contingents

13

6

116.67%

New Pendings

18

8

125.00%

All Pendings

27

14

92.86

At right is a chart showing a snapshot of the inventory levels from the past five years. You can see that closed sales are a bit higher, but what really stands out here is the large number of under contract listings in 2012 as compared to the previous five years. 

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