STEVE’S STATS – FEBRUARY 2011
Posted on February 3, 2011 by JA/LEX Real Estate in Shippensburg homes for sale Shippensburg real estate Shippensburg real estate agents Shippensburg rentalsSTEVE’S STATS – FEBRUARY 2011
Brought to you by: JALEX Real Estate Services
JALEX Real Estate Services is raising the bar for Shippensburg, Pa real estate sales and service. JALEX Real Estate Services offers you a monthly Shippensburg area real estate market conditions report based on data taken from our local real estate multiple listing service. We will use the Shippensburg area absorption rate in this report to identify the type of market conditions which exist currently in the Shippensburg, Pa area. The absorption Rate is defined as a number that shows the rate at which the inventory of homes for sale are being sold. A declining figure indicates people the inventory is decreasing as more homes are being sold than are coming onto the market. A rising absorption rate implies that there are more homes coming onto the market than there are buyers willing to buy at the market prices.
The absorption rate lets you know how well the market is absorbing the current inventory of listings. The ultimate question the absorption rate answers is, “Is the current inventory level shrinking or growing?”
Number of active Shippensburg real estate listings in the Shippensburg school district as of February 1, 2011 = 188
Number of Shippensburg homes sold since October 1, 2010 (3 month period) = 41
Absorbtion rate = Number of homes sold / Period (3 months) = 13.67
Month’s supply of homes = Number of active listings (188) / Absorption rate (13.67) = 13.75
Total number of sold listings in Shippensburg in the past 30 days – 13
Median sales price of the homes sold in Shippensburg in the past 30 days – $154,000
High sales price – $259,500
Low sales price – $14,000
Median days on the market of homes sold in the past 30 days – 129
Six month’s supply is considered a balanced market. Numbers over 6 equal a “buyer’s market”. Numbers below six generally indicate a “seller’s market”.
Using these calculations you can focus on absorption in a particular neighborhood or price range as well. Showing clients the Absorption level can give them the information they need to price their homes for sale in the Shippensburg area real estate market. As with any commodity, price in real estate is mostly a matter of supply and demand.
The absorption rate is now as low as it has been in the past several month’s. There are two main factors for that. First, becasue it is winter and becasue we have just gone through the Christmas season there have not been so many homes hitting the local Shippensburg area market. This is a normal condition as thoughts are largly focused on the Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s holiday’s. Now that 2011 is here we expect new listings to hit the market over the next couple of month’s and when March arrives home sellers in the Shippensburg area will start to call at a higher frequency to discuss selling their homes. The second reason for the reduction in the absorption rate is that the market has been more active. The interest rates have begin to rise which is most likely going to remain the case as we go into 2011. Interest rates had hit an all time historic low at the end of 2010. The interest rate for a 30 year fixed mortgage had dropped to 4.25% at the end of November and began to rise in December 2010. The current interest rate on a 30 year mortgage is fixed at around 4.75% This rise in the interest rate has caused many who had been waiting for the best time to buy to realize that this is it! Now that 2011 has arrived the time is as good as it will be for homebuyers to make the decision to purchase their home. National experts throughout the country are echoing the same consistent message which is that rates will continue to rise through 2011 and we could see rates up to 6% again by the end of 2011. Prices have continued to drop as well which is another reason that buyers have returned to the market with greater urgency than at the end of 2010. Our advice to Shippensburg home buyers, now is the time to buy to realize the lowest cost of your Shippensburg home. Our advice to Shippensburg area home sellers thinking about listing their home is that since the buyer’s have shown some urgency to buy you should show some urgency to sell. Get your Shippensburg area house on the market now, at a fair price, and give yourself the best opportunity to find your buyer. Make sure to list your home with a Shippensburg real estate agent or agency that has demonstrated growth, creativity and market knowledge. Why choose anyone else but JALEX Real Estate Services?
As a service to our Shippensburg community, JALEX Real Estate Services likes to provide this helpful information each and every month so you know what is going on in the local Shippensburg real estate market. JALEX is happy to provide you with the following additional market stats, please feel free to call or email and let us know how we can be of service!
