April 16, 2007

Current listing inventory - 250 active listings in Owatonna this week. Inventory has leapt up this week. Levels had been trending downward over the last 6 months but have now set a new high, blowing away the previous high of 243 in October 2006. This will bear watching over the next several weeks to see if it is only a quirk in the market or a trend to be concerned with. Average days on the market in Owatonna has fallen to 120 days. This is probably due in part to the number of new listings on the market, new listings = many listings with low days on the market. This will also bear watching over the next few weeks. Beginning this week we will now be tracking the number of pending listings as well, this will tell us if we are seeing houses getting accepted offers. Currently we have 50 houses pending in Owatonna with an average days on the market of 93. Interest rates had been staying stable for the six weeks but have risen slightly and have now been at 5.875% for a 30 year fixed (still a great rate) for a two week period. A new feature beginning this week, Clicking of the words "Active" or "Pending" will bring up a grid sheet showing the properties that are in that category.