Contracts negotiated on single-family homes this July fell from the previous month’s total as buyers took their traditional summer break. Transactions for the year continue to track the 2009 data reasonably well, though at a slightly lower activity level. Buyers have a nice opportunity in the market right now. Inventory is at a slightly elevated level, providing a good selection. Competition from other buyers is relatively low, so immediate bids are usually not needed for
The Hartford County Condo market has fallen out of sync with the traditional seasonality, creating a good opportunity for buyers with lots to choose from and a more favorable pricing environment to go along with very attractive mortgage rates. The data shows a 13% decrease in the total number of contracts from the second quarter of 2010. However, looking more closely at the individual months, we can see that 2011 showed very steady performance –
Well that stunk. January is in the books and it seemed really slow. It takes a couple days for agents to get all their negotiated contracts into the MLS, so we still don’t know just how much slower it was than recent years. Hopefully we can get that data up by the end of the week. In the meantime, here’s a snapshot of the listings for the first month of the year. Overall, the number
This month we’re reporting statistics a little differently. They’re based on the number of contracts written rather than the number of closings. Why? Because it’s fun to shake things up every now and then. And because I honestly think it’s a more relevant way to look at the market. By focusing on contracts, we get the most up-to-date view of market activity possible. The contract date is when deals are struck, when prices are negotiated,
The question we get more than anything else is, “Where is the real estate market going?” We try to answer with a quick recap of the current situation, and maybe some thoughts on the near future, but that’s often not enough for the questioner. They want to know the long-term direction of the real estate market. They understand that we can’t predict the future, but they ask anyway. The real answer is that nobody knows,