The Havre de Grace Market cooled down from its hot streak in the first quarter, pretty much mirroring what has happened in the market nationwide. Since this is being compared to last year, when the first time homebuyer’s tax credit was expiring, it may seem a little weaker than it really is. But that doesn’t really explain the weaker economic numbers overall, with the unemployment rate having dipped back below 9%, and the stock market showing some really trepid returns.
Total unit sales were down more than 12% from last year, and the days on market was up by 25%. The bright spot was that the average list price for the sold properties was up by 8%, and that might explain the higher days on market; sellers were holding out longer for a higher number, in addition to the fact that there were more short sales this year than last.
Luckily, the total homes in the active inventory is down by almost 10%, with the amount representing 8.33 months of inventory, which is only slightly up from the 8.04 months of inventory from last year. New home construction did increase slightly from last year, so that may have watered down the gains in the absorption rate that we would have benefited from.
Either way, the lower numbers only represent a slight hiccup in the recovery, since we had such a depressing April with regards to weather, and because gas prices have spiked into what some have described as painful levels. Since the administration has just indicated that they will be releasing some of the Strategic Petroleum Reserves, gas prices will decrease, giving somewhat of a “stimulus” to consumers.
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