Housing Supply Overview
Although inventory continues to show signs of improvement across the country – especially in markets in the western part of the U.S. – the national increase seems to be coinciding with a reduction in sales. This could be because the inventory increases are in higher price ranges that many buyers cannot currently afford. For the 12-month period spanning March 2018 through February 2019, Pending Sales in the Western Upstate region were down 0.9 percent overall. The price range with the largest gain in sales was the $200,001 to $300,000 range, where they increased 6.6 percent.
The overall Median Sales Price was up 4.8 percent to $174,000. The property type with the largest price gain was the Condos segment, where prices increased 8.9 percent to $132,500. The price range that tended to sell the quickest was the $100,001 to $150,000 range at 96 days; the price range that tended to sell the slowest was the $300,001 and Above range at 136 days.
Market-wide, inventory levels were up 7.8 percent. The property type that gained the most inventory was the Condos segment, where it increased 35.0 percent. That amounts to 4.2 months supply for Single-Family homes and 4.9 months supply for Condos.
Monthly Indicators
It is worthwhile to mention the weather when discussing residential real estate for large portions of the U.S. for February 2019, because this month has turned in some impressively cold, rainy and snowy days that have stalled some buying and selling actions. Nevertheless, housing markets have proven to be resilient despite predictions of a tougher year for the industry. It is still too early to say how the entire year will play out, but economic fundamentals remain positive.
New Listings were down 15.6 percent to 509. Pending Sales decreased 31.1 percent to 293. Inventory grew 7.8 percent to 1,860 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 6.5 percent to $172,500. Days on Market increased 21.7 percent to 112 days. Months Supply of Inventory was up 10.3 percent to 4.3 months, indicating that supply increased relative to demand.
The National Association of REALTORS® recently reported that national existing home sales were down slightly during January 2019 and that pending sales were up in year-over-year comparisons. It is worth noting that some softening of sales was anticipated, as was a positive sales bounce during January 2019 after a slow end to 2018. Weather-related events have hampered some of the necessary machinations of making home sales during February 2019, yet buyers have shown determination toward achieving their homeownership goals.
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