And the Good News Is…. WE’RE MOVING CLOSER TO A SELLERS’ MARKET!
The Manatee Association of Realtors has just released the March 2009 MLS statistics for Manatee County. Although they show that median sales prices have dropped 33.4% from last March, the good news is that almost 9 percent more homes were under contract in March than were a year ago, and even more exciting, that the number of months of inventory supply dropped almost 20%! Last March, inventory held at 14.6 months, whereas this March, our supply is at 11.8 months. Experts who follow the real estate market and inventory measures will tell you that a sellers’ market usually starts when inventory is down to about six months. This is the closest we’ve been to that point in several years. What other excellent news can I deliver??? Buyers will be happy to know that the median price of homes is still 32% less than the average sales price, meaning that buyers are still benefiting from low pricing. However, sellers will be happy to know that the number of homes on the market dropped by almost 11% over last March’s figures, and that trend would indicate a leveling of prices, if not slight increases soon. Looks like we’re headed in the right direction!
