From Date       To Date

May ARMLS Reports

Resale Listings 

The listing count reported in the May ARMLS Reports, which were released on June 14^th, was 54,459—up 916 listings from the April reports.  After a moderate fall off in the listing count in the fourth quarter of 2006, growth in this number has resumed climbing to an all time high. The record level of listings prior to January 2005 was 30,046 listings in February 2003.  The monthly listing quantity climbed 1.7% from April to May.

If your clients do not believe that the market has changed, and they expect multiple offers and selling prices exceeding the listing prices, use this information.  Tell them, “Compared to May 2005, listings have increased by over 40,000!” 

Resale Sales

ARMLS-reported sales for May jumped 4.8% from the April sales figure with an increase of 268 sales.  On an annually adjusted basis sales were down 1,763 or about 23% from May 2006.  May sales quantity is typically 10% - 20% higher than April, so this quantity is on par for the normal calendar cycle.  In this normal calendar cycle, sales tend to be highest in the summer and then gradually taper off over the next few months before resuming the climb during the first quarter of each year.  The winter months are consistently the lowest in sales. 

<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->

Our sources of data for these displays are the ARMLS reports.  In these, there are three months, January – March 2005, for which we have not shown listing data because of apparent discrepancies.  Additionally, ARMLS notes that the listing information for March through August 2002 may contain errors, but we have chosen to display this reasonable data above.

Our Assessment of the Resale Market

Supply and demand are interrelated variables in the Real Estate Market, but changes in the current market are being driven almost exclusively by the supply variable.  Two years ago demand was the primary driver.  We expect sales to continue at a pace similar to 2002 and 2003 for several months.

With the current over-supply situation, resale housing prices have started to decline and appear to be entering an ongoing downward adjustment mode.  This emerging adjustment will help to realign the supply and demand variable.  It is difficult to tell how long that will take.

Copyright® 2007 - This information is compiled and written by Ultimate Information Systems, Inc. Use of this article, in part or in its entirety, is expressly prohibited without written permission.  Click here to request limited rights to reuse this information.