October 17, 2007

Current listing inventory - 235 active listings in Owatonna as of today. Inventory has dropped quite a bit over the last week and that is an AWESOME sign. We've been trying to write this post for the last three days but every time that we checked the inventory it just kept dropping. Average days on the market in Owatonna has climbed to 140 days. The newer listings are getting the offers and dropping out of active category leaving the older listings which drives up the days on market count. The number of pending listings has also risen to 46 houses. Average days on the market has dropped dramatically for this category to 85 days. This is due to quite a few of the new listings receiving offers within the first 10 days or so of being listed. There have been 321 properties Closed properties since 01-01-07, with an average days on market time of 117 days.

As mentioned during one of last week's posts, we have been seeing a mini-trend recently of homes getting an offer very quickly if they are ready to go are are priced correctly for the current market. If they are not priced correctly buyers are simply ignoring them.

Buyers, if you have been considering jumping into the market, now is a good time to get off the couch. There are quite a few excellent opportunities available in our current market. We hear almost daily comments like "it's priced at X but they would be willing to sell it for Y" (put your own price range in for the X & Y). In addition interest rates are still excellent and there are quite a few good loan programs available. Also many of the lenders are offering specials that will save you quite a bit of money.

Interest Rates dropped just a tick to 6.250% on October 17, 2007.

One statement we hear time after time from home sellers is "We just want to try it at this price for two weeks". In a recent training seminar the trainer (David Knox) drove home the imporatnce of correct pricing during thre first two weeks by saying "Sure you can try it at your price for two weeks! Just not the first two weeks!!". Try to listen to your Real Estate Professional and their suggestions of price.