September Monthly Market Real Estate Update

The markets are showing some more increased activity as mortgage rates are continuing to trend downward.  The FED is meeting on September 17-18th!

All Real Estate is local.  Here is a snapshot of our current local market and the trends to pay attention to.  

Current Active Listings (All Types)	3055	Up 1% from last month & up 17% from this time last year
Current Pending Listings	1007	Down 8% from last month & down 5.3% from this time last year
Sold Listings Last Month	792	Down 1.6% from last month & up 8.6% from this time last year
New Listings Last Month	1085	Down 9% from last month & down 3.4% from this time last year
Months of Inventory	4.58	Up 2% from last month & up 25% from this time last year
% List to Sold Ratio	98.60%	Down .3% from last month & down .6% from this time last year
Absorption Rate *Based on current active listings vs sold listings for the past month	26%*	Down 3% from last month & down 26% from this time last year
Average Sales Price in All Categories	$474,000	Down .2% from last month & up .9% from this time last year
Median Residential Sales Price Average Residential Sales Price **Based on Willamette Valley Multiple Listing Statistics	$455,000** $504,162**	Up .6% from last month & up 2.9% from this time last year. Up .5% from last month & up 2.2% from this time last year
Average Owner Occupied Interest Rates ***Based on Freddiemac.com Statistics of 30 year fixed mortgage	6.35%***	Down 1.9% from last month & down 11.4% from this time last year
Consumer Price Index (CPI) **** All items-FED’s Goal is 2%	2.5%****	Down 14.8% from last month & down 39% from this time last year

+Some numbers are roundedWe are enjoying some increased sales activity in our office as rates have decreased over the past few months.  Home buyers are seeing opportunities that weren’t here before.  Many sellers are working through the commission structure overhaul with ease and understanding the value of the extra layer of negotiations with buyers.  Buyers are grasping it as well as they are negotiating those commissions.  We have seen that inventory increased slightly in August, but slowed dramatically from the high increases over the past few months.  Average sales price continues to increase as Days on Market has decreased as we are still seeing the nicer homes sell quicker as some continue to experience multiple offers if they are priced well.  After choosing the right agent, pricing well is the most important decision for sellers at this time.  There are over 3300 agents in our small Mid Valley area, where only about 800 have sold a handful or more and approximately 1500 agents have not sold one home this year.  Many have only sold one or two.  Experience Matters ~ Choose Wisely.  We are entering into more of a balanced buyer/seller market at over 4 & 1/2 months of standing available inventory.  We expect this to continue to increase, growing further into more of a balanced, but yet more of a buyer’s market.
We often communicate that our PEP Talk is the foundation for sellers to consider in selling their homes.  Price, Exposure & Presentation.  Pricing correctly is ‘paramount’ right now in a market like this.  No one can tell you what your home is worth until the highest paying buyer is negotiated with.  There are thousands of Automated Value Models (AVM) on the net, but they do not understand your location, curb appeal, condition, amenities, functionality, etc.  We can help you focus on a range of higher probability selling through our pricing analysis.  Going to market is the key to success.  The exposure of your property is why you hire us to help you market your home to get the highest return.  A highly advanced marketing plan covers all of the bases to gather the most views and buyer activity on a property.  Presentation is so important as we hire the best stagers and photographers to showcase our listings to the highest ability, however the seller is in control of how well the home shows; and does it pass the ‘sniff test’?

  Most of these items are out of our control, but in order to sell for the highest price in the shortest amount of time, these 3 foundational pillars are important to discuss.
We enjoy keeping an eye on average mortgage rates at Mortgage News Daily because they do a good job in trending the Treasury Yields, which have more of a direct correlation with mortgage rates.  The FED influences short term rates, but the mortgage industry tends to make moves prior to the FED meetings to speculate positioning ahead of policy changes.  The FED is expected to cut rates as the inflationary numbers that the FED uses to make policy are showing significant signs of slowing down.  The August CPI report shows that inflation grew 2.5%, but the core (minus food and energy) grew at 3.2%.  The FED’s goal is 2%, but not only to get to 2%, but they have communicated that they want to see an average of 2%.  We are a long way from that; over a year at this pace.

We do appreciate some local lenders keeping us updated weekly on their mortgage rates, which appear to be lower than the national averages.  Rates will depend on each buyer’s situation regarding the sales price, type of financing, income, debt to income ratios, credit scores, etc to determine the risk of the borrower.  Using a good & local lender that has experience and communicates well is our advice.