John Hall & Associates | Successful Agents | Greater Phoenix, AZ Real Estate Agency

How do you track the market for your buyers and sellers?

Here are some numbers as of 6/1/09 -

Let’s look at REO’s – Only 14% of Active Listings are Bank Owned. In fact there is less than a 30-day supply (5,766 Closed vs. 4,916 Active). REO’s Closed are ‘down’ to 62%, and with ‘only’ 54% of Pending being REO’s, the percentage of ‘Bank owned’ should be going down in June.

Short Sale (“SS”) numbers are moving up – not just in the numbers we’re looking at, but the AWC categories have over 4,600 properties being negotiated with the Banks. Active SS listings make up 23% of the market; Pendings are 19%; and Closed are 11%. Closed SS should be going up as agents and Banks find ways to solve the negative equity situation. Let’s hope so anyway.

Why track Vacant? I track this because of the 1 and done factor, i.e. instead of a seller converting to a buyer – with a Vacant sale the seller is almost always out of the market such as a Bank, Short Sale, Estate sale, relocated seller, Spec builder… Using the numbers above for Vacants: 52% of all Active listings are Vacant; 80% of Pending sales; and 84% of Closed sales are Vacant.

Let’s look at the market at specific price points of <$200,000 and +$400,000.

These result in dramatic supply and demand differences. Whereas the <$200K market has a 2 ½ month supply (16700A/7046C) the +$400K market has a 19 month supply (9086A/477C). Another comparison that jumps out in these price points is the < $200K market has 48% of the Active listings, but 76% of May Closings. By contrast the +$400K market has 26% of Active listings, with 5% of Closed for May.

You can continue your analysis of the market by comparing supply and demand in these price ranges, REO differences, or SS movements. Or you can use the Cromford Report to create your own Market Reports.

The ARMLS market area is currently one of the strongest in the country. Our YTD figures are up over 68% compared to the first 5 months of 2008. More and more agents are commenting on how things are picking up for them. I hope this article helps you focus on active market segments and provides you with valuable information to communicate to your buyers and sellers the dramatic changes in our market.