NWA Market Statistics for September
Fall has officially started, and it’s starting to reflect in the data. The overall sales dollars and total closed transactions are down from last month as we enter the slower months for real estate sales. Prices saw very marginal changes from August. Only a 1.5% increase in median sales price and the price per square foot actually saw a $2/SQFT decrease from last month. Both signs the drastic increases in property values are stabilizing. Median days to sell increased by 7 days from last month 62 days, but this is still historically low for NWA.
For the 5th straight month, the ratio of sales price to the original list price has been 100%...meaning generally speaking, sellers are not having to make concessions on the purchase price to sell their properties. The months of inventory (MOI) held steady at 4 for the 3rd straight month. This is partly due to the 17.1% decrease in new listings being all but matched by the 16.5% increase in expired listings, and new listing only saw a slight change. While we cannot know the number of active buyers in the market, the fact that MOI has not changed means we know the market supply of properties and the buyer demand are changing in direct correlation with each other.
With the ratio of sales price to original list price remaining high and MOI remaining well below 12 months indicates we are still firmly in a seller’s market (to no one’s surprise). Interesting to note, NWA has been in a seller’s market continuously for more than a decade! In fact, only 3 of the last 130 months have even reach 8 months of inventory on the market (no month surpassed 8 in that time frame)…meaning in the last decade we haven’t even approached the general rule-of-thumb “transition point” of 12 MOI; at which point we tend to say the market has shifted more to a buyer’s market. Similarly, the fact that the sales price to original list price ratio has only been below 95% ONCE in the last 130 months (94.8% in Jan 2014) is more proof sellers have largely been in control of the market since before 2013.
That pretty much sums up the important points for the NWA market statistics for September. All in all, it’s as expected for this time of year. If you have any questions about the market, reach out!