Is it time to buy in Longmeadow- Part II?

Most housing data reported by both the local and national media are lagging indicators. For example, this past week, the National Association of Realtors reported existing home sales through April 30. This data is certainly not a leading indicator… Using this information to evaluate the current real estate market is like “driving a car using the rear view mirror”.

Even though the sales data that I provide on a monthly basis is more current (earlier this week I reported Longmeadow 2008 sales figures through May 31) it still does not provide current enough information since most transactions that were reported were in process for at least 4-8 weeks.

In our April Sales Report… Good News/ Bad News post we reported seeing numerous “SOLD” and “Sale Pending” signs around town that seemed to indicate that buying activity was picking up. While the May 2008 results were up vs. April 2008 (17 vs. 8), corresponding May 2008 results vs. May 2007 were disappointing (17 vs. 21).

We have now identified a new statistic that might provide us a good leading indicator…. it is called "Sales Pending". According to MLS PIN , there were 33 Longmeadow homes in this category as of June 5 which confirms our “around town” observations. This data includes MLS sales but does not include FSBO sales which are usually are 10% of the total.

Given that there were 23 homes sold in June 2007 and 18 sold in July 2007, this latest Sales Pending data suggests a fairly active sales season for the upcoming summer as compared to last year.

Last week’s sales report also showed that 10 out of 17 homes sold for less than the official town assessment value with the median sales price at a two year low. While the current environment for obtaining a mortgage is more difficult, qualified buyers can still get one. And interest rates are still low on a historical basis.

I suggested in a post earlier this year, that 2008 might be a great time to buy a house in Longmeadow.

So….. it is still probably a great time to buy a house in Longmeadow.

Also, if you are thinking about selling your house.... don't wait too long. I suspect that once the word is out that houses are again selling in Longmeadow.... that there will be a wave on new properties being offered for sale. Consider selling your house via FSBO in order to be able to price it for today's "buyer's market".



Longmeadow FSBO