St George Market Conditions Report for June 2008
Posted by on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 3:37pm.
Lets take a look at the real estate statistics for June 2008. Here are the current reports for the St George Utah real estate market. This is a snapshot of the Washington County Board of Realtors reporting as a whole. This will include everything listed (residential, commercial, lots, etc…). New Listings: 865 Total Active Listings: 6,273 Sold Listings: 234 Months in Inventory: 26.81
So what does this mean for the St George real estate market?
Well…new and active listings are down, which is a good thing considering the extreme number of listings currently available. However, the number of sold listings is lower and the months in inventory is higher. This means less property sold…and it took longer to sell. Price changes, according to the Board Members, shows that most property had a price change lowering the asking price approximately 11.07%. This could still be an indicator of overpriced homes on the market. Unfortunately many home sellers still believe they can command top dollar 2006 prices for their property, thus listing it too high. Even worse, many agents will allow the seller to believe they can achieve the asking price. These overpriced homes are contributing to the time on market, hence inflating the numbers a bit. Once sellers snap back to reality (and possibly replace their listing agent) and price their home accordingly (or competitively) the property usually is sold very fast. Buyers are looking for deals.
So the real question…
When will the St George Utah real estate market hit bottom?
Who knows! Prices are good and interest rates are too. You could wait and see if the prices fall a bit; however, my prediction is that the interest rates will rise faster than the prices will fall. This means that you could wait until the home is $15,000 cheaper, but in all likelihood the rates could be another percent higher, which will completely wipe out your savings. If history repeats itself (which historically it has) the last time we faced a gas crisis (mid 70’s) in the years following the interest rates worked up to the 15%+ range (in 1981). Sure there were different factors when comparing that era with today, who knows if the rates will become that high again. Is it worth the risk? You tell me.
Here is a yearly comparison for the GREATER ST GEORGE AREA, RESIDENTIAL property ONLY. This shows current numbers for the area as compared with last year’s numbers.
| Number of Sold Listings | Dollar Volume of Sold Listings | Median Sale Price | ||||||||||
| 2007 | 2008 | Diff | Chg | 2007 | 2008 | Diff | Chg | 2007 | 2008 | Diff | Chg | |
| January | 196 | 81 | -115 | -58.7% | $ 58,234,456 | $ 24,082,385 | -34,152,071 | -61.7% | 246,000 | 255,000 | 9,000 | 3.7% |
| February | 161 | 125 | -36 | -22.4% | $ 51,793,072 | $ 36,732,626 | -15,060,446 | -29.1% | 259,991 | 255,000 | -4,991 | -1.9% |
| March | 234 | 154 | -80 | -34.2% | $ 70,259,436 | $ 48,685,116 | -21,574,320 | -42.5% | 256,753 | 250,000 | -6,753 | -2.6% |
| April | 201 | 139 | -62 | -30.8% | $ 58,147,815 | $ 39,781,661 | -18,366,154 | -31.6% | 272,000 | 240,000 | -32,000 | -11.8% |
| May | 212 | 165 | -47 | -22.2% | $ 73,581,551 | $ 43,602,417 | -29,979,134 | -42.5% | 270,000 | 226,000 | -44,000 | -16.3% |
| June | 213 | 157 | -56 | -26.3% | $ 72,047,771 | $ 49,867,272 | -22,180,499 | -42.5% | 270,000 | 261,000 | -9,000 | -3.3% |
Want to know what is for sale now? Visit my free Southern Utah MLS (multiple listing service) search where you will find all property listed for sale updated in real time.
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