The Dane County real estate market becomes a lot easier to understand when you break it down into pieces, which is exactly what we'll be doing twice a week for the next several weeks. We'll start by taking a look at recent trends in housing supply.
Each month we take a snapshot of the total number of active MLS listings for homes and condos and update our inventory trend report at DaneCountyMarket.com. As of April 30th, the total supply of Dane County homes and condos was 311 units lower than the inventory level from the same time last year. This is an encouraging trend for sellers, but if you look at the graph below, you'll see that the current inventory level is still high by historical standards. In fact the current level of Dane County inventory more than doubles the inventory level from January of 2005.
When can we expect the supply of homes and condos to recede well below peak levels? This remains to be seen, but it's safe to say that the market will need some time to digest the inventory that is currently on the market.
One reason is that the demand for housing in 2008 is well below the levels from the last several years. We'll cover this trend in more detail in our next post.
Another reason is that Dane County foreclosures are on the rise. As more and more foreclosure listings enter the market, we'll continue to see upward pressure on inventory levels for Dane County homes and condos.
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