Here’s my monthly look at our single-family homes market in Nevada County.
Here are this month’s take aways:
- Spring Has Sprung! There were a whopping 120 pending sales in February 2015! That is a phenomenal number. In fact, only September 2014 (with 129) showed more pending sales over the last 19 months. Buyer demand is at a huge high.
- With new listings coming onto the market at fairly weak levels (137 for February 2015), the high number of pending sales is eating up the existing inventory. The active inventory has decreased every month since August 2014. February ended with the second lowest number of active listings recorded over the last 21 months.
- Prices continue to appreciate. Even though the average sold price for February 2015 of $347,000 was lower than the average sold price of $376,000 for January, we have experienced a 12.9% higher average sold price for the last quarter (December through February) compared to the same quarter one year ago. The rolling twelve month average sold price is 6.8% higher than the previous twelve months. This price appreciation is real, solid, and substantial.
- This fluctuation in supply and demand and price appreciation should be the deciding factors for every homeowner who has been sitting on the fence, thinking about selling. The time is NOW to get that home on the market. Buyer demand is at an amazingly high level and competition is low resulting in substantial appreciation of nearly 13% compared to last year’s numbers for this quarter.
- We have typically been gauging months of inventory based on the number of closed sales. That calculation is misleading for February. February had a low number of closings due to a low number of pending sales in November and December 2014. To show you a more accurate snapshot, I’ve also included this month the months of inventory based on pending sales. That calculation is all the way down to only 2.9 months. That’s a staggering number, as well. Buyer agents are feeling this shortage of inventory as it’s increasingly difficult to find good homes to show and sell while fighting against a high number of competing buyers.
- Don’t miss the surge! Many sellers and listing agents are waiting until later in the Spring to get the homes on the market. That is foolish. The demand is in full force right now. It’s a great time to hit the market.
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