Montgomery County, MD 5,198 Active Listings on 12/6/07

As of 10:30 PM on 12/06/2007 according to the MRIS there were:

5,198 Combined Active Listings
546 Marked Contingent w/ko, Contingent no/ko, Contract (10.5% of total active)
919 Contingent w/ko, Contingent no/ko and Contract Status Listings Combined (17.6% of the active listings)
447 Price Reductions in the past 7 days (8.6% of the total active listings)
146 Listings marked Sold (2.8% of the number of active listings)
310 Listings marked Withdrawn in the past 7 days (6% of the total active listings)

Roughly, these numbers translate to about a 10% monthly absorption rate for the county(a 10 month supply of homes). However, the average days on market in October for Montgomery County was 94 days, so clearly there are some properties that are selling quickly and bringing the average DOM down.

Also, in October the average percentage of sale price to list price was 92.36% down nearly 3% from the same time last year. As far as I know, that that statistic does not include seller subsidy, so the buyers are making out even better than the number suggests. The last several offers I have seen have included the purchaser asking the sellers to pay all of their closing costs. Depending on the DOM that is not an unlikely scenario that should be considered. Buyers have options. Don't give it away--but put yourself in their position and consider their concern for short term depreciation.

Everyone knows that the buyers are in the drivers seat, but if a seller has been in their home for four or more years and has not fully leveraged the property with lines of credit or 2nd and 3rd trusts, there should be plenty of profit at the table. Also, if you had moved up using the profit from another house in the past few years as a huge down payment, you probably are doing fine too!

Just remember that real estate will appreciate if you keep it long enough. That's the key. Don't buy today if you aren't going to stay in the home for several years. And sellers, make sure that your home outshines the rest by staging properly and utilizing the talents of a smartworking agent!