Sliver of Hope in the July Home Sales Figures

The Greater Nashville Association of Realtors has released the July 2008 sales figures and sales are down 25.7%. Bad news. Pending sales which are an indication of future sales are down 23.1%. Bad news. Inventory is up 12.6%. Bad news.

So where is the sliver of hope? A significant increase in the inventory is due to a big jump in the number of Farms, Land and Lots. Up nearly 50% to 6,182 vs 4,170 in 2007. The sliver of hope is that Single Family listings are up less that 1,000 compared to 2007 which indicates that the inventory is beginning to stabilize.

So why is the inventory of Farms, Land, and Lots up? In better times many developers do not add their inventory of lots to the MLS, since they marketing them directly to builders. As times get tough they broaden their marketing and place their lot inventories on MLS. It appears that this is why there has been such a year over year increase.

Inventory of Homes Pushes Nashville to a Buyers Market

The Greater Nashville Assocaition of Realtors reports today that the inventory of homes exceeds a six month supply, 6.6 months to be exact. Any thing under six months is considered a sellers market. This is the first time in at least 7 years that the August inventory exceeds a six month supply, or a considered a buyers market.

There were 3,359 home closings reported for the month of August, according to figures provided by the Greater Nashville Association of Realtors®. This represents a decrease of 10.9 percent from the 3,772 closings reported for the same period last year.

Year-to-date closings for the Greater Nashville area are 24,778, down 9.2 percent compared to the 27,294 closings reported through mid-year 2006.

A comparison of sales by category for August is:

Closings - Residential - Aug. 2006 - 3,772

Closings - Residential - Aug. 2007 - 3,359

Closings - Condominium - Aug. 2006 - 3,036

Closings - Condominium - Aug. 2007 - 2,643

There were 2,896 sales pending at the end of August, compared with 3,440 sales that were pending at the same time last year. The median residential price during August was$189,719 and for a condominium it was $162,346. That compares with median residential and condominium prices at this time last year of $184,000 and $140,000 respectively. The average number of days on the market for a single-family residence was 64 days. Inventory at the end of August was 22,396. That compares with an inventory of 16,670 at the end of August 2006.

"Available inventory is considerably higher than last year at this time. That means buyers have more choices, so price and condition of properties for sale have become increasingly important," Richard Courtney said. "Based on the number of homes sold in August, the inventory represents about a 6.6 month supply, which is a reasonable balance in the housing industry. "