During the month of August, we had 60 homes in our area available for sale.  10 homes went under contract, of which 4 sold by the end of the month (welcome new neighbors!)  At the current rate, the supply of homes in our neighborhood is approximately 6 months.   

There continues to be an above average supply of homes on the market in our zip code-- as the graph below shows, the number of available homes has continued to trend higher while the number of homes sold has trended lower.  This is a classic sign of a buyers market.




Sellers who want to move their homes quickly are finding that not only does the house need to be priced appropriately, but it also needs to show well (yes, the clutter & dust bunnies need to be removed.)  It may take extra work, additional marketing and realistic pricing, but homes in our neighborhood will continue to be in demand and therefore, will sell. 

In a continuing trend over the last few months for our area, more homes have been added to the market than have sold. This means that buyers have more choices-- and also means that sellers have to work harder to get their homes to stand out. In our zip code (78750) for the month of July 2008, there were 158 homes for sale while only 23 homes sold. Last year, for the same month, there were 107 homes for sale and 45 homes sold.  Homes that are "priced right" and that have been appropriately updated are selling quickly.  However, homes that are priced at the top of the market or require updating are not moving quickly due to the oversupply of quality homes.