Is The Ada County Real Estate Market Any Better Off This year?

I believe this is the question everyone wants answered with hard numbers. So... Lets proceed with removing my opinion and letting the number speak for themselves.

So here they are:

April 2008

Active Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . 4931

Homes Sold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .449

Months of Inventory . . . . . . .11 Months

Median Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . $208,000

Average Price . . . . . . . . . . . . $243,224

Average Days on Market . . .72 Days

Jan 2009

Active Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . 3764

Homes Sold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .232

Months of Inventory . . . . . . .16 Months

Median Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . $183,000

Average Price . . . . . . . . . . . . $210,928

Average Days on Market . . .94 Days

April 2009

Active Listings . . . . . . . . . . . . 3896

Homes Sold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .419

Months of Inventory . . . . . . .9 Months

Median Price . . . . . . . . . . . . . $170,000

Average Price . . . . . . . . . . . . $200,135

Average Days on Market . . .94 Days

So what does all this mean??? I guess I will have to give my opinion here. It means prices are still falling, not as fast, but still falling. The market is closer to being stable this year than last and if you are thinking about buying then you better hurry and take advantage this market. For those of you still reading I will explain what I mean.

The most important statistic stated above is the months of inventory. Why? The months of inventory tells us if no more houses were put up for sale it would take that many months to sell all the currently inventory of active listings. The months of inventory tells us if we are in a buyers market, sellers market, or a neutral market. An inventory of 4 or less months means we are in a sellers market, sellers are in the drivers seat. 4 to 5 months of inventory is a neutral market, meaning the buyer and the seller are on a level playing field. Anything over 5 months means the buyers are in the drivers seat and usually paying less than asking prices.

In just a few short months here in Ada County we have gone from a 16 months inventory to a 9 month inventory. The closer we get to 5 months the fewer good deals are on the table for buyers and more you can expect to pay for homes. Recently I have seen many homes around and under $200,000 receive multiple offers so do not sleep on this market, take advantage of historical low interest rates and home prices if you can. Consider yourself warned the market is shifting!