cheaprealty net

Here is a little chart based on some searches I have been doing on the MLS in the local market area. Over the past 10 months or so I have been checking the MLS for total listings available and writing down the results based on property type.

This is a sort of snapshot of inventory available at any particular time - the data does not show sales, but rather property that has not sold yet, or which may never sell. The higher these numbers get relative to actual monthly sales for the various types of residential property, the more likely we will see price drops in the future - because a divergence between increased listing and decreased sales activity cannot continue indefinitely.

Not surprisingly, inventory has not increased greatly in this period, just steadily - probably a reason why property prices have skirted with all-time highs recently, while a housing crash is already underway elsewhere.

It is interesting to note, so far this year the number of single family homes listed is outstripping new listings for condos. More townhouses are for sale now than were for sale until later in the summer last year, so that is another area to watch for further increasing or decreasing inventory versus sales activity.

The totals used to produce the graph were based on studying the inventory available on various days throughout the year - I do a simple search of properties of various types and all prices in the local MLS system - single family homes, condos, townhouses, multi-family properties and mobile homes. Comments on the likely trends are welcome.