Market Update
IT'S A BUYERS MARKET
SALES:
The multiple listing service reports 8 homes going under
contract over the last 30 days in Wickenburg. Only 3 homes closed
escrow over the last 30 days, the average price was $232,500 with a high
of $262,500 and low of $185,000. The average time those homes spent on
the market was 104 days. the final sales price was on average
$12,467 less than the asking price.
inventory/
time on the market:
Currently we have 211 homes on the market which is 6 more than last
month.
The average time on the market is averaging 8 months which
is a little higher than the normal of 6 months. The interesting
thing is that there is a real shortage of some types of homes. For
example we have a real shortage of newer homes on larger subdivision lots say
between 1/4 and 1/2 acre, and also have a shortage of the more
affordable horse properties especially under $300K
PRICES:
More about calculating
values
Prices are down a little some areas more than others, but for the
most part things are steady.
Expectations:
The economy has buyers nervous, and that makes things very
unpredictable for our Real Estate market. I expect sales will be
slow as long as their is talk of a weak economy, the upside is that our
winter visitors are returning and that will hopefully compensate and
keep sales steady. I expect the number of homes
on the market will continue to climb, and if things stay the way they
are with the economy then I think prices will drop a percent or two.
So if you are seller in the Wickenburg market the competition will remain tough, and there will be little chance of selling a home that is over priced. For buyers interested in Wickenburg, 2008 is fantastic year to buy. Both prices and interest rates are low.
Land:
The demand for land has been much lower than normal of late even
though the availability is quite good. I attribute that primarily to the asking prices of the land
that is on the market. The asking prices of land are actually higher in
many areas than they were in 2005. Looking on the bright side we have
seen a number of price reductions, and still continue to see
new listings to the market. So I wouldn't say that the values of land
are dropping, just that the asking prices are falling back to reasonable
numbers, that will in many cases still be comparable or even higher than
the banner year of 2005.
Summary of data from past market updates
* When I mention an average I will exclude 2005 which was a most unusual year in Real Estate.
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