October sales report (2006)

Well... here we go. As always I'm pleased to present to you the sales report for last month. It should be noted that in this month our Association is using a brand new MLS product and we just merged three different data bases into one in our new regional MLS, or as it is called now, our new regional Data Exchange.

So far some agents are having some issues with the data. The data migration wasn't pretty to say the least but none of us in leadership thought it would be. I've monitored this report before I left for the Realtor Convention and again once I returned. I feel that this report is a fair reflection of the market activity for last month. I do think that it will get better as all the Members get used to the new system. Some things have changed in the ability to give the same kinds of data that I have been providing. I think that eventually I'll be able to offer the same set of data again and perhaps even run more specific reports for even better information.

For now though, sit back and enjoy the following report.

You will notice below that the unit numbers of sales went down again last month. By far this is the lowest total of the year. It could be that I'm missing some data, but I do get the general feeling that sales were again slower than the previous month... and this is normally the slowest time period of sales traditionally for SFR's in the Kingman area.

The average sales price also declined. While the decline looks dramatic, I think it is more of a reflection of a correction from some sales that were recorded last month that I've covered before in previous reports. In other words the spike up last month was the anomaly. I think the average price in general has held up pretty well all year long to this point.

As you can see from the chart below that last months unit figure is the lowest it has been since February of 2004 in my search area. Again, the Kingman area has not seen a dramatic increase in wages or salary to warrant to meteoric rise in property value and so it is much harder for buyers to qualify for the higher prices.

The chart below still tells me that the sweet spot for average price is in the $175,000 price range give or take. I doubt we head back to those numbers locally, but hopefully there will be some good news for the labor force in the area fairly soon that will bring better paying jobs.

The average home sold last month had 1,489 square feet living space and three bedrooms with 2 bathrooms. No info could be taken for garage spaces or for the age of the homes this month. As I get better at working with the new MLS system that should change.