Dec 2018 Market At A Glance

By Kurt Real Estate Nov 23, 2019

As we begin 2019, it’s a good time to look back at the past year and what the statistics have to say about the market. Without a doubt, there has been a softening in the market – a shift. Several factors contributed to this including interest rates and a strain on housing supply. Though home prices reached new highs in 2018, December ended with some downward trends.

Existing, single-family home sales totaled 372,260 in December, down 2.4 percent from November and down 11.6 percent from December 2017. December’s statewide median home price was down 0.5 percent from November and up 1.5 percent from December 2017. Statewide active listings rose for the ninth straight month, increasing 30.6 percent from the previous year. The median time on market was up 28 percent from 2017. The statewide Unsold Inventory Index was 3.5 months in December, down from 3.7 months in November. For the year as a whole, sales were down 5.2 percent from 2017.

What does this tell us? The market has shifted and this shift will inevitably have an affect on the next few months. Though we do see inventory increasing and we do expect sales to pick back up come springtime, sellers must realize that it has become more of a normalized market. Inventory is up and homes are sitting on the market a little longer. This does not mean it is not an optimal time to sell. Prices are still up from 2017, reaching all time highs. However, we can expect the drastic appreciation and bidding wars to subside over the next few years and stabilize.