St George Area House Hunting
St George Area House Hunting can be challenging. Most people have a general idea of what they would like in a home, and some have a very specific list of “must haves”. Personally I like the challenge of helping people find their dream home. In the last few months the inventory of homes in the St George real estate MLS has increased. This makes it a great time to get a good deal on a new home. When people compete for business it usually translates to better prices for the consumer. The best analogy for this is the automobile industry. When people are shopping for a car, if they only have 2 to choose from they may not get a very good deal. If they have 20 to choose from they can be very selective, and get dealers to lower their price out of fear of losing a sale. This is true in the St George Real Estate market also. With the number of houses nearing 2000 in the Washington County MLS buyers can be selective and offer lower prices.
St George Real Estate Market Forecast
May was a good indication of the current trend in our local market. There were about 30 price decreases every day in May. The reason people typically reduce their price is, they are area realizing that they may not be able to sell at the price they have their home listed at.
Another factor to consider when evaluating the overall St George Real Estate market is what is known as the absorption rate. This is the number of houses it would take us 6 months to sell at our current monthly sales rate. The graph shows the dramatic increase in homes for sale, and the absorption rate. The St George Real Estate market typically hovers around 6 months inventory. While it looks like a fairly small increase on the graph it is a fairly substantial increase in inventory.
These two graphs tell a story. People that study numbers for a living believe we are headed for more of the same. This may sound a little scary, especially given the recent history and the devastation created by the real estate bubble. Many people suffered financial devastation when the last real estate bubble popped. The difference with this slow down and the big crash is the spike preceding the slow down is not as large. The gradual increase we have experienced over the last few years appears to be sustainable.
Pricing Homes For Sale
In the last few months we have priced homes anticipating that the growth and increase in values would continue. I believe we will need to be a little more conservative moving forward to avoid building false hopes in the clients who list with us. The statistics don’t lie and I believe it is the agents responsibility to stay informed of trends, and to educate those we work. Personally, I would rather lose a listing than have it expire because it was priced too high from the beginning. Pricing a home is easy, pricing a home to sell is a little more of a challenge.
