A One Year Snapshot of Linn & Benton County Real Estate Statistics

Looking back the last 12 months at what the numbers say in the two counties where we do most of our work, the picture is remarkably positive. For example, the last full month of available data (August 2011) from WVMLS shows that Benton County homes sold 21% faster in August than they did for the previous 12 month period. Days on Market is the realtor-speak way of saying this. So the average Days on Market (DOM) for August was 125 days whereas the year average was 157 days on average to get a home sold. This is still longer than we would like to see, but a normal market predicts 90 days as the typical time frame to get the job done, so looked at that way things may be moving faster than some people are saying.

In Linn County, DOM was also showing signs of improving with 143 days being the average in August and 160 being the year's average number of days to complete a sale.

The next indicator to share with you is Months of Inventory, which is defined by this: if all listing of homes stopped now, how long would it take to sell the homes which are currently for sale? It sounds like a story problem, doesn't it? Well, let's solve this problem so you are in the know. In Benton County 6.5 months worth of homes to sell is the answer with the previous 12 month average being 9.09 months. This means that last month, we had 28% fewer homes to sell, and as you can imagine if you are a seller this is good news. If you are a buyer it means your days of being super picky and patient may be waning. Even with seasonal factors, this is a big change.

Looking at Linn County on the Months of Inventory situation, we see that the current number of month's worth of homes to sell is at 9.7 with 10.6 being the previous 12 month average. Not a big change and probably can be chalked up to the increase we see in summer.

Lastly, one last truly telling bit of information - compared to the number of listings taken, how many are sold? Are you ready for the interesting ratio information? We have it! Currently, Benton County homes' listing to sold ratio is 15%, an increase over the previous 12 month average of 12.9%. In Linn County, there was very little variation with 10.3% selling in August 2011 and 10.4% being the average in the last 12 months.

What conclusions can we draw from this? Both markets are stable or improving with fewer homes on the market, and those homes are selling at the same rate or faster from the 12 months previous. Overall, the 15% or so homes which are selling are probably priced correctly. The idea that this is definitely a buyers market may no longer be accurate. Those considering the sale of their home may want to consider these statistics as it shows some encouragement for having a successful sale with less competition.

Please feel free to contact us if you have questions about what this means for you and your home. We are here to help and will make time to ensure you get the answers needed.