The local real estate continues to fall from its meteoric rise over the last two years.  While prices remain high and inventory remains below historical trends, the market continues to slow with double digit decreases in sold volume and units sold and double digit increases in days on market.  Total sold dollar volume was down nearly 19% in July of 2022 going from nearly $378 million last summer to just shy of $308 million this July.  Units sold decreased a staggering 31% with nearly 300 less homes sold this July versus last July.  There were 907 home sales in July of 2021 compared to 631 in July of this year.  Median price remains high, clocking in at $438,200 versus $390,000 last July, representing a more than 12% year-over-year increase.

Days on market, the time it takes from when a listing enters the market until it receives a ratified contract and is removed from active status on the multiple listing service, increased a dramatic 63% this July, coming in at 18 days versus just 11 last year.  Even the higher number is still lower than the historical 5-year average of 25 average days on market.

Active listings have shown year-over-year growth for a solid year now with July of 2022 posting another 33% increase in homes on the market.  There were 1,016 homes on the market at the end of this July compared to 764 last year.  New listings were down this July by nearly 16%, with 859 new homes coming on the market compared to 1,020 last year.  New pending sales were down over 23% in keeping with the recent trend of slowing sales.

“The market continues to experience a shifting towards balance, but it still does favor the seller,” comments FAAR Board of Director Kardin Lillis.  “Sellers are having to adjust to longer days on market and offers that include contingencies.  Gone are the days of “blank check” offers, as buyers are now asking for home inspections, appraisals, and even seller closing cost assistance.  I expect the market will continue to be steady with the choice homes still being snapped up quickly.   With a recent dip in interest rates, I think we will start seeing battle-weary buyers who had stepped out of the crazy market of the past two years start to venture back into house-hunting and this should keep the market steady in the months ahead.”  

The local real estate market in June repeated its performance from May with increasing prices, falling sales volume, and growing available inventory.  June closed out the month with a nearly 20% decrease in total sold dollar volume, going from approximately $434 million in June of 2021, down to just over $349 million in June of 2022.  Fueling the decline in total volume was a steep dip in market activity potentially due to increased mortgage rates.  Units sold declined nearly 28%, going from 1,031 in June of 2021 and declining to 748 in June of 2022, just one transaction less than last month.  At the same time that demand is waning, median sold price posted another big year-over-year jump, clocking in at an all-time high of $441,000 in June of 2022 compared to $397,500 in June of 2021. 

Days on market, the time it takes from when a listing enters the market until it receives a ratified contract and is removed from active status on the multiple listing service, stayed nearly flat from last year at 11 days.

Active listings have shown year-over-year growth since July of 2021 with June posting another 30% increase in homes on the market.  There were 955 homes on the market at the end of June compared to 735 last year.  New listings were down this June by 20%, with 918 new homes coming on the market compared to 1,147 last June.  New pending sales were down over 26% and overall pending sales are down 30%, indicating that increasing interest rates could be dampening demand for the third sustained month in a row.

The rental market is also experiencing significant price increases with Realtors® seeing potential tenants offering greater than the posted rent to sweeten their application.  FAAR Board of Director and active Property Manager Dawn Josemans comments, “The rental market is still pretty hot.  We have multiple applications for every listing and very soon after putting the listing active.  People have been offering higher rents and asking for longer term leases as well.  There is such a high demand that the prices have increased by about 30-40%.  The supply has been low due to the high number of owners either not wanting to be landlords anymore or just wanting to take advantage of the hot sales market.”