Real Estate Market Report March 2023: Orleans & Jefferson
Let's take a look
at the real estate market. Currently, there are 584 sales pending in the market overall,
leaving 1812 listings still for sale. The resulting pending ratio is 24.4% (584 divided by 2,396).
So you might be asking yourself, that's great... but what exactly does it mean?
I'm glad you asked!
The pending ratio indicates the supply & demand of the market. Specifically, a high ratio
means that listings are in demand and quickly going to contract. Alternatively, a low ratio
means there are not enough qualified buyers for the existing supply.
"Current inventory is described as mildly active."
Taking a closer look, we notice that the $200K - $300K price range has a relatively large
number of contracts pending sale.
We also notice that the $200K - $300K price range has a relatively large inventory of
properties for sale at 503 listings. The median list price (or asking price) for all
properties in this market is $344,700.
A total of 2450 contracts have closed in the last 6 months with a median sold price of
$285,000. Breaking it down, we notice that the $200K - $300K price range contains the
highest number of sold listings.
Alternatively, a total of 1225 listings have failed to sell in that same period of time.
Listings may fail to sell for many reasons such as being priced too high, having been
inadequately marketed, the property was in poor condition, or perhaps the owner had
second thoughts about selling at this particular time. The $200K - $300K price range has
the highest number of off-market listings at 300 properties.
Looking at the chart below, you might be wondering why average days on market
(DOM) is important. This is a useful measurement because it can help us to determine
whether we are in a buyer's market (indicated by high DOM), or a seller's market
(indicated by low DOM). Active listings (properties for sale) have been on the market
for a median time of 54 days.
Analysis of sold properties for the last six months reveals a median sold price of
$285,000 and 25 days on market. Notice that properties in the $1.3M - $1.4M price
range have sold quickest over the last six months.
The recent history of sales can be seen in the two charts below. The median sold price
for the last 30 days was $280,000 with a DOM of 36 days.
Since the recent DOM is greater than the median DOM for the last 6 months, it is a
negative indicator for demand. It is always important to realize that real estate
markets can fluctuate due to many factors, including shifting interest rates, the
economy, or seasonal changes.
"The median list-to-sales ratio for this area is 96.6%."
Ratios are simple ways to express the difference between two values such as list
price and sold price. In our case, we typically use the list-to-sale ratio to determine
the percentage of the final list price that the buyer ultimately paid. It is a very common
method to help buyers decide how much to offer on a property.
Analysis of the absorption rate indicates an inventory of 4.4 months based on the last
6 months of sales. This estimate is often used to determine how long it would take to
sell off the current inventory of properties if all conditions remained the same. It is
significant to mention that this estimate does not take into consideration any
additional properties that will come onto the market in the future.
