One thing jumps out at us this month: Pending sales are on the rise, and the number of pending sales equals the number of active listings in West Savage this month. While these numbers often align to some degree, these figures also continue to demonstrate that sales activity this year, even into the fall months, remains strong.
The government shutdown was a hot news topic, but its impact to real estate transactions was minimal. Our loan officer contacts reported that VA loans were the most likely to be impacted, followed by FHA loans. Though not directly affected by the shutdown, FHA financing relies on information provided by other governmental departments which were impacted by the shutdown, hence the effects for some FHA borrowers were residual. While a few consumers articulated concerns about the US economy and how that impacted their decision-making process when it comes to real estate, most consumers have expressed more irritation than concern thus far.
The low market times are continuing into the fall months. We peeked back into October 2010 for a comparison of West Savage market times during that year, and most were in the triple digits, with some well into the 300+ days on market. That year, the $300K-$600K market (of which West Savage predominantly is) was stagnant due to high vacancy rates in the entry-level markets leaving few move-up buyers to turn around and purchase homes in this range. Enough time has now elapsed where the entry-level buyers of the 2010 market are making new home purchases. This is surely a factor for West Savage’s phenomenal 2013 turnaround year in terms of sales activity.
This month, single family inventory in both Savage and in Scott County (as a whole) has increased, while townhome inventory in Savage has decreased. Townhome inventory in Scott County has remained steady from last month. Our West Savage absorption rate is 1.54. That means if zero new homes come on the market, it will take 1.54 months to sell our existing inventory. This is an incredibly low number!