Buyer Demand Increases 16%!

Here are the stats and facts from the 7 county MLS report courtesy of SMDRA—

• Buyers closed on 5,138 homes and condos last month, which is down 1.4% from a year ago.
• 6,182 homeowners newly listed their homes for sale last month. This was a small 1.8% increase from last August.
• Buyers placed 5,365 homes under contract last month, this was a whopping 16.1% increase from last August and a 5.9% increase from August 2017.
• We ended the month with 8,321 homes and condos for sale.
• This puts months of inventory at 1.62 months.
• The average sales price rose 3% year over year to $477,697.
• The median sales price rose 3.7% year over year to $420k
• Over the last 5 years the number of new listings in August has been incredibly consistent with the fewest number in 2017 with 5,964 new listings. This year was the 3^rd year out of 5 years with over 6,100 new listings with this year’s number being the highest.
• Last year in August there were 31% MORE new listings than under contracts as buyer demand was dropping quickly due to mortgage rates nearing 5%.
• This year in August there were just 15% more new listings than under contracts as supply of new listings barely increased (1.8%) but demand as measured by under contract rose by 16%.
• If this trend continues then the probability of more bidding wars and higher price appreciation increases.
• We have had 6 months in a row with over 5,000 homes placed under contract. Last year this stopped in June after 3 months.

• The median sold price last month increased by $15,000 year over year, a 3.7% price increase.
• Combine this with principal reduction of roughly $400 a month, a homeowner who owns a median priced home with a mortgage saw their net worth increase by $20,000 over the last 12 months. And how much did a renter’s net worth increase in the last 12 months? ZERO!!!