Housing Supply Overview
Inventory was again a driving metric in residential real estate in 2017, whether the fewer number of homes available put a damper on sales or
created lower affordability due to competitive demand between eager buyers willing to raise the percent of original list price received at sale. For
the 12-month period spanning January 2017 through December 2017, Pending Sales in the Western Upstate region were up 1.0 percent overall.
The price range with the largest gain in sales was the $300,001 and Above range, where they increased 15.0 percent.
The overall Median Sales Price was up 9.3 percent to $165,000. The property type with the largest price gain was the Single-Family Homes segment, where prices increased 8.5 percent to $168,500. The price range that tended to sell the quickest was the $100,001 to $150,000 range at 54 days; the price range that tended to sell the slowest was the $300,001 and Above range at 103 days.
Market-wide, inventory levels were down 5.8 percent. The property type that lost the least inventory was the Condos segment, where it decreased
1.8 percent. That amounts to 4.7 months supply for Single-Family homes and 3.6 months supply for Condos.
Monthly Indicators
The number of homes for sale, days on market and months of supply were all down in year-over-year comparisons in a majority of the country for the entirety of 2017, as was housing affordability. And although total sales volumes were mixed, prices were consistently up in most markets. Buyers may not benefit from higher prices, but sellers do, and there should be more listing activity by more confident sellers in 2018. At least that would be the most viable prediction for an economic landscape pointing toward improved conditions for sellers.
New Listings were down 2.0 percent to 343. Pending Sales decreased 38.8 percent to 145. Inventory shrank 5.8 percent to 1,897 units.
Prices moved higher as Median Sales Price was up 11.2 percent to $165,000. Days on Market decreased 12.9 percent to 74 days. Months Supply of Inventory was down 6.1 percent to 4.6 months, indicating that demand increased relative to supply.
Unemployment rates have remained low throughout 2017, and wages have shown improvement, though not always to levels that match home price increases. Yet housing demand remained incredibly strong in 2017, even in the face of higher mortgage rates that are likely to increase further in 2018. Home building and selling professionals are both cautiously optimistic for the year ahead. Housing and economic indicators give reason for this optimism, with or without new federal tax legislation.
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