December listings report (2007)

Last but not least... uh... actually according to the numbers for December, the month WAS least in terms of new listings and average asking price. Not bad, not bad at all.

Now... let's not actually start partying like it's New Years Eve over the fact that listing number fell in December just yet. The number of unit's that received a contract fell for December. But I must say that I sort of expected the new contracts to fall because of the month -- new contracts fell 17% while new listings fell 35% from the previous month.

I have a feeling that the 2008 listing numbers will be fun to track. I've been hoping that we'd start seeing a reduction in new listing numbers to at least close the gap between listings and sales on a monthly basis. Since it doesn't appear that sales numbers will gain all that much in order to close the gap, I'll gladly take the reduction of numbers from new listings that will in effect close the gap.

Anyway... the disclaimer...

Disclaimer... all data compiled for this report comes from the WARDEX Data Exchange and does not include any sales activity from outside that resource. All research is done only on single family homes and there is no inclusion of modular homes, commercial properties, or vacant land. The geographical area researched includes; all areas within the boundaries of the city of Kingman, north Kingman, the Hualapai Mountain area, and the Valle Vista subdivisions. Click here to see maps of the included area's.

Listings:

Today total listings available for single family residence equals 650 (down from 708 on December 1). The rate of new listings taken per day in December was 2.1.

There were 65 new listings taken in December (number down as compared to 100 in November). The average asking price for the new listings is $201,624 (down quite a bit from last months $239,647). The median asking price is $174,450 (also down significantly from $209,900 previously).

The average newly listed home has 3.12 bedrooms, 2 baths, a 1.75 car garage, with 1,564 square feet of living space and was built in 1992. The average asking price per square foot of living space is $129. Lastly, 12 of the new listings were actually re-listed either by the same or different broker.

Units under contract:

As of today there are 70 total units under contract (down from the number of 83 last month).

25 units entered into contracts in the month of December (dropping as compared to 30 the previous month). The average asking price for homes that received contracts was $206,044 (up from $196,752 last month) and the median asking price for December was $170,450 (down slightly from the previous months $174,900 figure).

The average home that went under contract in December has 3.16 bedrooms, 2 baths, a 2.4 car garage, with 1,586 square feet of living space, and was built in 2001. The average asking price per square foot of living space for listings that entered contract this month is $130. It was also priced $18,568 higher when it first was listed as compared to its current asking price (the average price reduction was $16,560 last month). The average marketing time to reach a contract was 184 days (from 115 last month).

Conclusions:

Perhaps sellers are finally responding to the reality of the market in larger numbers. I would like a pattern emerge over the next few months to know for certain though. Another number to notice is the total number of available listings that fell back into the 600's. It is still too high of a number that will have negative impacts on the price of homes going forward. It equals an estimated 15 to 20 estimated months worth of standing inventory as compared to the rate of sales.

For the units that took a contract, the average year the home was built was 2001 and that marks the first time an average age number hit the new millennium for listings, contracts, or sales.

Where is the bottom?? I simply do not know but I offer this guess... if the data activity continues to jump around the way it has over the last six months AND the overall number of active listings continues to fall (either by sales or simple attrition through expirations of listings) then we will likely see the bottom of this market emerge by the end of the new year.

2008 will be a bumpy ride, and it will be important for both buyers and sellers to track the changes in the market this year. It might be easier to predict the weather this upcoming year than the local housing market.