Cumulative 1Q 2009 monthly sales of single family detached residences are -20.2% below those of 1Q 2008. 1Q 2009 sales are down -43% compared to 1Q 2007. How come most Seller's fail to sell? Because they deploy hope as a strategy and because they are attempting to compete in a declining market that does not favor them. 1Q 2009 sales were lower in each month, compared to the same months in 2008 - furthermore, January sales were down by only -12%, but sales worsened during February and March. How come sales fell? Well, sales didn't fall too much if you look at properties for sale under $200,000 - in fact that's where most of the activity, more than 50% of the demand, measured in total closings, truly is. However, sales, if they happened at all, fell because consumers are counting every penny, and so are the banks. Sales fell because there are way less buyers than there are sellers. The rate of decline in sales during each quarter, compared to the same quarter of … [Read more...]

This post is adapted from one of my answers on Trulia Voices today - if you aren't checking out this amazing forum for real estate information, then you should do so! Yes, absolutely prices are going down, but they are stabilizing - we've been in a "declining market" since June 2006. Certain submarkets are in freefall, still. Certain submarkets are more stable, and these have better real estate fundamentals than the others - better schools, less crime, better lifestyle amenities, etc. The question today came from someone "buying in Ansley Park' so lets just look at what's up in Ansley Park in the past 12 months for single family properties...in 2008, there were 23 sales. The lowest priced sale was a $440,000 3/2 on Flagler. The highest priced sale was a $1.25 Million 4/2/2 on Westminster. The average SOLD price in 2008 was $990,793. There were 6 SOLD properties in Ansley Park since January 1, 2009 - on average, they took 48 days to sell, and the average sales price was … [Read more...]