Dayton Area Home Sales for October 2007
The slump in the housing market, which began to show its effects on local sales activity in recent months, continued in October as the 940 single-family sales reported to the Board's MLS represented a decline of about 15% compared to last year's October total of 1,109. A volume of just over $119 million for October produced an average sale price of $126,640, down 5.5% from last October's $134,041.
Despite the slowdown in national sales activity due to the credit-crunch and concerns about the strength of market values, the Dayton area's year-to-date sales activity is still topped only by 2005 and 2006, which were record years. Market values in the Miami Valley continue to hold up remarkably well.
For the 10-month period ending in October, a total of 11,440 transactions represented an 8.2% decline compared to the same period in 2006, when 12,442 sales were reported. Looking back at previous years, year-to-date 2005 produced a nearly identical 12,468 sales, but 2004's comparable figure was 11,427. These statistics put the current numbers in perspective as the third highest total ever for the period.
Total single-family sales volume year-to-date has topped $1.55 billion, and an average sale price of $135,804 is still just a 0.72% decline from last year ($1.7 billion volume and $136,795 average). The median sale price through October was $117,000 compared to $119,000 last year, a 0.9% drop.
Single-family listings submitted in October totaled 2,270, down 112 units or 4.7% compared to the 2,382 added to the inventory in October of 2006. The ten-month total for listings submitted now stands at 25,986, also down about 4% compared to last year's 27,074.
Overall MLS inventory at the end of October fell to 10,449 available single-family units, a drop of 280 units from 10,729 at the end of September. Inventory typically falls during the fall, but with continued inflated inventories and downward pressure on prices being the norm in many parts of the country, this is an especially good sign for us this year.
The available supply of single-family homes, based on October's sales pace, remains at just over 11 months (the same as September's supply). In 2006 at the same time the inventory stood at 10,003 listings and represented a supply of 9 months, when the sales pace was faster.
Statistics compiled by John Junker, MLS Data Specialist