“+300% Year-Over-Year Change in Closed Sales All Properties”

Well the Sudbury stats are in for the 3rd Quarter of 2013 and the trends are very positive.  The headline of a “+300% Year-Over-Year Change in Closed Sales All Properties” certainly is encouraging to say the least.

In single family homes we sold 23 homes in September 2013 vs. only 6 in September 2012 with an increase of 19.3% in the Median Sales Price from $566,000 in September 2012 to $675,000 September 2013.  The great news for all of us Sudbury homeowners is that not only did more homes sell; they were also more expensive homes. This stat is not to be misconstrued into a 19% increase in home values. The Year to Date 5.7% increase in the Median Sales Price from $639,000 (2012) to $675,400 (2013) is more indicative of the upward trend than an actual increase in value.

As supply was very low, as shown in the Inventory of Homes for Sale of 115 homes in September 2012 vs. 65 homes available for sale in September 2013, and demand was high, the average “Days on Market Until Sale” fell 24.3 % from 112 days to 85 days with an annual decrease of 34.5% from 140 days to 92 days.  This is also good news for Sellers, as the stats also show that a home’s sales price is a direct function of days on market. In that, as a home languishes on the market, racking up days on market, the home sales price falls or is not as close to asking price. This is also evidenced in the monthly and annual trends portrayed in “Percentage of Original List Price Received”. In a nut shell a Quick Sale = More Money.

The absorption rate also fell to 3.1 months vs. 6.5 months in 2012, as shown in the “Months Supply of Inventory”.  Absorption rate is the number of months it would take to sell all the homes on the market divided by the rate at which homes are selling at any current time. Absorption rates can be verydifferent for different price points, in that $600,000 homes may be selling considerably faster than homes of say $1,300,000 in town. Currently there are 18 homes on the market $1,300,000+ and 9 sold in the last 12 months and so the absorption rate for that price point is currently running at 6 months.

The forecast for the for the last quarter of 2013 looks to be more of the same, as inventory will remain low, with the holiday seasons approaching and not much new inventory coming on the market. If you are considering putting your home on the market now or in the near future, allow me the opportunity to MAKE YOUR HOME A BEST SELLER.  There are currently Buyers looking for homes with immediate needs. Additionally, early February is a great time to have your home ready to sell. Come February there will be some penned up demand that has been waiting out the holiday season, and a shortage of supply.  As such, the homes that are staged and presented properly to the market should sell very quickly and close to full sales price.

Louis Stephan
Broker Owner
Prudential Stephan REALTORS