How to Interpret my Market Reports – Part Two
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Each week Altos Research updates these terrific charts on my site as well as the executive summary, and the far more detailed market update report. When you subscribe to these market reports you’ll receive the executive summary report (pictured to the left) and can request the more detailed market update if you are a glutton for the data!
If you follow along each week it becomes fairly easy to get a good idea of how the market is trending for the active properties. The key word is "active."
Early on in the spring selling season there are few comps to review for sold properties, but there are homes on the market and if we look at the data in these reports there is a wealth of information available to help us price well.
In this post, let’s look at the price section of the report and focus in on what those numbers mean for Bethesda homes for sale in zip code 20816…
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If you look at the blue line (90 day rolling average) you can see the trending over the last couple of years and see where pricing has been. Our active pricing is not much higher than it was in ’07 and this statistic was borne out by the 2009 closed sale stats as well, with prices generally down.
This rolling average is over all the price quartiles together. We’ve seen a steady rise in active pricing over the last few weeks and it seems to be holding in the Under Contract homes as they are coming off the market quickly and in some cases for higher than asking price. We’ll look at this further in the quartile breakdown to see exactly which price range is contributing to this trend.
This early in the spring season it’s still important to watch the active competition to get a feel for the market, though in 20816 there are 19 closed sales through close to the end of March:
Average Price: $970,895 (Up 1%)
Median Price: $905,000 (Up 8%)
Days on Market: 42 (Down 43%)
List to Sale Ratio: 97% (UP 4%)
If this trending holds throughout the spring season it’s an excellent time for sellers to get your well priced property on the market and take advantage of better pricing. For buyers you need to be cautious of waiting too long to enter the market. In fact your advantage is over and you are now competing for homes in price ranges under $1M. If the home is in good condition and priced reasonably there will be multiple offers. In order to compete you’ll need to drop contingencies, be prepared to pay over list and have access to cash to cover the amount that won’t appraise.
Sound familiar?
If you subscribe to this market report you will get it each week and you can follow along in real time to see just how the market is doing!
Part One – Understanding the Basics
Part Two – Interpreting the Price Trends
Part Three – Market Action Index
Bethesda Real Estate and Bethesda Homes for Sale
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