It’s not a coincidence that all you buyers out there are seeing nothing but “stale” listings. Where is the fresh blood, you ask? … those new properties that bring you the joy of untying a bright red bow off a crisply wrapped present? Not yet on the market, it seems. Inventory is down a whopping 35%+ from March highs of approximately 11k to 7k units today. This is leading not only to buyer frustration, but to a visceral understanding of the importance of pricing properties well in this market. Not surprisingly, absorption rates have tended to increase at lower price-points that fall within conforming loan limits, and decrease rather dramatically above the $3MM mark (true across all neighborhoods).
The narrative goes like this:
1) Winter was frozen from Lehman’s collapse,
2) Spring thawed buyers’ interest,
3) Summer lovin’ kicked in with high sales volume based on pent-up demand and better pricing, defying typical seasonal doldrums, and
4) Fall/Winter maintained the trend, as attractive inventory continued to be swooped up.
For all you eager buyers out there, take heart: December and January are known for taking properties off the market to refresh them come Spring. Expect new inventory to come on-line shortly.
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Interesting reading for those of us outside the Manhattan area. There are many areas that have so much “old blood” listings that when the “new blood” hits the market it is hard to find them through the vulture ridden existing properties. Hopefully spring is a time of new listings, and renewed prosperity for you and within your “orchard”.