SPRINGFIELD (August 17, 2018) Capital Area REALTORS (CAR) Multiple Listing Service statistics for July show year-over-year increases in pending home sales and closed sales with a decline in the median home sale price, new listings, cumulative days on market until sale, total inventory and months supply of inventory.
After a large drop in July home sales regained a bit with 370 homes sold in July of 2018, reflecting an increase of 3.6 percent over the 357 home sales during the same period in 2017. Year-to-date through July of 2018 there were 2,152 home sales, down 3.8 percent from the 2,237 home sales during the same period last year, according to REALTOR Ed Mahoney of RE/MAX Professionals and president of the organization.
For the month of July 2018, the median home sale price (for all single-family homes and condominiums) was $120,800, a decrease of 10.6 percent from the $135,000 July 2017 price. For year-to-date through July of 2018 the median home sale price was $125,000, up 2.5 percent from the $122,000 price during the same period last year. The median is a typical market price where half the homes sold for more, half sold for less.
Months inventory is the best indicator of a buyer's or seller's market, and this figure continued its descent, from 4.5 months in July of 2017 to 4.1 months during the same period in 2018.
“At a time when other parts of the country are beginning to see an easing of inventory we are still in a trough. That said, we saw inventory in the $500,000 plus range decline from 15.6 months in July of 2017 to 13.6 months during the prior July which is a good thing. On the flip side the price per square foot for a home in this price range dropped by $2 to $96.00, as compared to $98.00 during the prior year,” said Mahoney.
The 23 foreclosure sales in July of 2018 accounted for 6.4 percent of all sales, up from the 22 foreclosure sales (or 6.1 percent of all sales) during the prior July.
The average cumulative days on market until sale for all home sales was 68 in July 2018, a decline from 1 day during the prior July.
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp. reported that the national average commitment rate for 30-year, conventional, fixed-rate mortgages was 4.53 percent in June 2018, an increase from the 3.97 average rate during June of 2017.
The Capital Area REALTORS® is the Voice for Real Estate in the Capital Area representing more than 800 members involved in all aspects of the real estate industry. The Capital Area’s Resource for Real Estate Information can be found at SeeHouses.com.
Click here for statistical reports.
###