Eastman/New Hampshire Real Estate Update August 2009

The state wide numbers are finally here. Why it took until the first day of October is beyond me.

The good news is, trends are going in the right direction. Looking back to September 08′ and September 07′ we see that the number of active listings is getting smaller. In 07′ there were over 4,415 listings, 08′ there was 3,969. At the end of August 09′ there were 3,803. I see this as a leveling off of inventory. For sellers that is good news.

The average days on market also seems to be leveling off. For August 09′ the average days on market is 137, just about the same as last month and three days less than Aug. 08 yet higher then 07′ when that average days on market was 126.

The good news for buyers is the trend in home sale price has stared to fall again. What could be the peak for Hew Hampshire housing for 2009, June the median sales price was $200,000. At the end of August the median price was, $192,000 down 4% from the June peak, yet up from the February low over 15%. Yes, I checked my figures, the median home price is up over 15% from the bottom in February.

More good news for sellers, the average selling price per square foot is still trending up! The average is $135.27 up 18% from the Feb. low of $115 per square foot. As good as it sounds the current number is still lower from 08′, down 6%, and down 18% from August 07′.

Now to look at the Eastman Real Estate Market.

What we have seen so far for 2009 is that total sales are down but things seem to be picking up. Year to date there have been six condo sales. Yes this is a low number but in the month of September there were 5 condos that went contingent (under agreement) and one that went pending (sale imminent). In one month we doubled the sales production of the entire year!

Homes sales are no different. For the first 9 months of the year there were 21 homes sold. In the months of August and September we have 7 homes that are contingent or pending. This equals 33% of 2009 home sales, equaled in about six weeks.

Let’s hope the trend continues. It seems like it will, as I am getting daily calls and email questions on my listings. If your a buyer it certainly looks like the bottom has been hit. If your a seller the worst seems to be over and pricing seems to have stabilized and sales look like they are starting to pick up.

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