News Article From: 03-13-2006
Resale Sales Analysis
Sales Patterns
In January 2006, resale sales fell for the fifth month in a row. This fact is moderated, however, because a seasonal drop is normal for this time of year. Seasonally, the winter months show the lowest sales volume, while the summer months are the highest in sales. The graph below displays this consistent annual seasonal pattern.
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In addition to the seasonal pattern, note the monthly sales volume increase of each year from the previous year. This pattern existed every month throughout 2002-2005 until the last four months. During the four most recent months, volume has been below that same month a year ago. This relationship is shown in the next graph.
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Commentary
Even though resale sales volume is down quite significantly from last year, our resale market is still performing very satisfactorily in the sales arena. A sales level in the range of that of 2003 and 2004 is the norm for our market.
An interesting phenomenon is the very significant jump in sales between 2003 and 2004. Investor buying was a significant contributor to this increase, and we are now seeing many of these properties re-listed on the market. For the last two years sales numbers have been much higher than would normally be expected, because of the excess home purchases for non-owner occupied purposes. Our market is now faced with a mushroomed listing situation driven significantly by liquidation attempts for these non-owner occupied homes. |