The Second Quarter has come and gone and statistics are now available. With the constant barrage of negative real estate news from the national media, many of you will be surprised to learn, and everyone will be happy to see, that Saratoga County has made it through another quarter unscathed. Incidentally, the Capital Region as a whole posted similar results. Home values in our area have held firm and continued to post modest gains without suffering the steep declines many other areas have suffered.
We'll start with everyone's favorite stat: Price.
Relative to the First Quarter, prices were up for active listings and homes under contract. However, prices fell slightly for homes which closed in the Second Quarter.
Year on year prices were up modestly for active listings and pending sales, rising 1.85% in both categories. The average sales price remained flat at $250,000. Given the negative reports we here from other parts of the country, this is encouraging news.
Homes sold for an average of 97.4% of their list price in the Second Quarter, down 0.7% from 98.1% in the Second Quarter of 2007.
On average, homes which closed in the Second Quarter were on the market for 88 days before receiving an accepted offer, up 17.33% from 75 days a year earlier. The average days on market for homes which went under contract during the Second Quarter was 74 days, a relatively flat change from 73 days a year early.
Shifting our attention now toward market activity, we find that new listings, sales, and units under contract all increased from Q1 08 to Q2 08. Much of this increase is due to the cyclical nature of the housing market, with more people looking to buy and sell real estate in Spring rather than in Winter.
Year on year, decreases were seen across the board, with new listings decreasing by 11.31%, sales decreasing by 6.41% and homes going under contract decreasing by 14.85%.
While this means that fewer people are buying and selling real estate in Saratoga County, it doesn't mean much else from the point of view of a homeowner or buyer. Looking at new listings as a percentage of homes which went under contract, the number fell slightly from 63% in Q2 07 to 60% Q2 08, an change of little significance.
The bottom line is that is that the Saratoga County market, as well as the surrounding area, remains healthy. We are no longer experiencing the high level of appreciation that characterized the first half of the decade, but, on the other hand, our real estate market continues to remain largely immune to the severe problems faced by many other markets in the country. For buyers, relatively low interest rates and flat to modest price increases over the past year or two makes this a great time to buy. For homeowners looking to sell, keep in mind that even if you end up selling for a few percent below what your home was worth two or three years ago, you will be able to buy your next home at a similar discount. And if you're moving out of the area, you'll make out even better, as many markets have seen large declines in property values.
Lastly, with all these numbers, please do not lose sight of the forest for the trees. Next week I will post a simple chart showing prices changes over the past few years.
