Now that the new year has arrived at last, it’s time to take one final look back at the 2018 real estate market. For this quick update, we’ll be comparing conditions from December of 2018 to those from December 2017. These year-over-year comparisons will not only reveal how our market evolved over that time, but they will also tell us a lot about where our market is headed, today.
The first statistic we’ll discuss is “days on market.” Days on market (or DOM) refers to the average number of days it takes homes to sell at a given point in time. And while other market trends saw a significant change over the 12-month period between December 2017 and December of last year, the average days on market was virtually the same at these two points. In December 2017, the average days on market was 54. In December of 2018, the average days on market was only one day less: 53.
Looking at this change, or lack thereof, it appears that we may be entering a slowdown. Still, it’s important to realize that the current DOM is still a massive improvement from that which we observed in years past. Less than a decade ago, the DOM was more than twice the current average.
Moving on to an area of more noticeable change, let’s consider the number of properties sold in 2017 versus those sold in 2018. In 2017, a total of 2,598 homes were sold. In 2018, there was a 5.8% increase in total sales, with 13,333 having sold that year.
Despite this, there were actually 7.5% fewer sales in December 2018 than there were in December 2017. This change serves as another major indicator of a market slowdown.
With all of this said, current conditions are not cause for concern. Home prices went up 8.3% in 2018 and are continuing to rise. And with inventory also trending upward, it’s clear buyers and sellers alike will have the opportunity to succeed in their 2019 real estate goals.
If you have any other questions or would like more information, feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We look forward to hearing from you soon.