Dothan Real Estate Market - January Sales Report
January 10th, 2008 - Categories: Dothan area Real Estate Market information, Inside the numbers
By: Charles Woodall
Managing Broker
http://www.dothanhomesearch.com
You?ll notice a couple of things with this month?s update. First, some of the numbers from previous months are different from the numbers in previous market updates. Why? I have been using some numbers from the Alabama Real Estate Research Center, but I have started to question their accuracy. Some months they are higher than the MLS numbers, and some months lower. So in order to be consistent, we?ll stick with the raw data from the Dothan MLS. 2007 numbers have been adjusted accordingly.
The other change relates to what numbers we will be looking at. I have previously been presenting a lot of statistics to you in table format, which makes it more difficult to get a true picture of trends and the like. Starting with this update, we will focus the monthly Dothan real estate market update on numbers that are most relevant month-to-month, such as inventory, pendings and solds, and absorption rate. Other statistics, such as median price, days on market, and list-to-sale price ratio, can fluctuate significantly each month, so we will analyze those each quarter instead.
Today, the numbers for sales and pending sales. Tomorrow, inventory and absorption rate. Enough rambling?here are the numbers.
Sales and Pending Sales
Real estate sales are seasonal. Sales slow down during the winter months, and early spring and mid-summer are usually busy. So when looking at numbers for pendings and solds, we need to compare current data with the same months in previous years instead of only previous months, such as we do with inventory. Doing so gives us a better picture of what is really going on.
The number of homes marked as pending sales is a good indicator of the market activity over the next 30 ? 60 days. Looking at the graph, pending sales are continuing to show a downward trend.
Take a look at the last three months of homes sales figures compared to 2006. Remarkably similar numbers. Is this a sign of a market that is leveling off? Could be. We?ll keep an eye on it.
I am interested in your feedback, so let me know what you think about this update. Are you seeing the information that is important to you? Do you prefer a different format? Like the old updates better? Let us know by commenting below!
Possibly Related Posts
- Dothan Real Estate Market Update - February 2008 Sales report
- Dothan Real Estate Market - February Inventory Report
- Slowdown in Housing Starts effects everyone
This entry was posted on Thursday, January 10th, 2008 at 11:58 am and is filed under Dothan area Real Estate Market information, Inside the numbers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
I guess the good news is that inventory is down, and it’s not much higher than January of last year. I’m guessing, though, that’s because some home sellers have given up? All of this must be fascinating information for Dothan Alabama home sellers and buyers. They need someone like you to help them see through all the media negativity and sales hype of many other agents in this market.
I think some home sellers have given up, but it is likely the ones that haven’t been given a true picture of this market by their agent. I personally have advised a couple of sellers to take their home off the market for awhile. A seller that doesn’t have to sell probably shouldn’t be listed right now.
What a wonderful overview of the Dothan Real Estate Market. Your graphs provide insight at a glance and are very readable…key to any good blog. Thanks for making sense of the numbers!!!
What a fantastic Market Report for the Dothan, AL. area. This post is packed with tons of great information for both the Home Buyer and Seller in Dothan, Al.
Chad
Charles - Love your graphs. Great news for you area and relevant information local residents can use when determining the market for themselves. Without all the news hype, we may see some normalization to the market.