BUCKING THE STATS

The new Market Action report from RMLS with stats for July is, frankly, dismal.  But around the Lee Davies Real Estate office, brokers have been rushing around with a spring in their step and our moving truck has had little down time so we decided to crunch some numbers to see how we compare to the industry overall.
 
If you look at the RMLS report below, you’ll see that July 2010 pending sales were down 24.9% over 2009 but LDRE enjoyed a 33% increase.  That’s a 58% spread!  Portland Metro’s closed sales for July compared to last year declined 29% while LDRE closings were down 11% – that’s 18% above the average.  Average sales prices across Portland Metro were up 2.9% but up a impressive 21.6% from $395,883 to $481,436 at the LDRE closing desk.
 
Comparing year-to-date figures which give you a much broader look at the picture, you’ll see the numbers are a little rosier for our market overall.  Here is the breakdown of January to July ’10 compared to ‘09:
 
                RMLS Closed Sales          +22.5%
                LDRE Closed Sales           +85.4%
 
                RMLS New Listings          +09.1%
                LDRE New Listings           +30.5%
 
Of course, our company growth has played a role in these increases.  Our team of brokers has increased 33% during the same time frame.
 
Many conclusions can be made when crunching the numbers but we like to think that our professional, consistent team approach has played a major role in, not just surviving the recent market conditions, but thriving in spite of them.
 
The statistic of glaring concern to us, as revealed in this report, is the 10.8 month current inventory compared to 7.3 for 2009.  This is the first time since March that this number hasn’t improved over the prior year and it took a big jump.  We are feeling the reverberation of the end of the tax credit which may have prompted summer buyers to buy early and has had a domino effect on the market.  An inventory number this high will likely have a negative effect on home prices, however it is a situation an educated and realistic seller can overcome.  For buyers, on the other hand,  it’s a dream come true…an abundance of inventory and interest rates the lowest they’ve been since Freddie Mac began tracking rates 1971.
 
If you are ready to crunch some numbers of your own and consider taking advantage of this unique window of opportunity, please contact one of our professional brokers today!