2012 Q3 Market Snapshot

Each August buyers take vacations and fewer sellers list their homes. As a result, sales decrease in September. This year, September sales were down 18% versus the same time last year, as more buyers took a breather from the competition. This buyer break was more than off-set by the drop in supply. Prices did not suffer, but rose 18% versus last year. Competition remained fierce as properties sold an average of 0.6% above original list price, a full 5.8 percentage points higher than last year. Now we see that October availability is picking up, as 14% more properties were listed after Labor Day than the same time last year, but the buyers are back, demand remains high, and the competition continues.