Market Update - 8.10.22
PACE OF NEW LISTINGS AND SALES SLOWS
But year-to-date sales volume remains strong due to appreciation.
The Lake Chelan Real Estate market is slowing after the rapid sale and appreciation environment of 2020/21 – fewer listings, fewer pending sales, and fewer closed sales. (See graphs below. Note all data is for residential sales.)
This slowing however doesn’t necessarily suggest a reduction in demand. The median Days on Market this spring for residential properties hovered between 8 to 10 days. The market continues to be starved for quality homes (i.e. well cared homes for with updated finishes). These homes, when listed, sell quickly.
The slowing also doesn’t suggest a reduction in overall dollar volumes in sales. Given the dramatic increases in sale values during the previous two year period, overall dollar volumes of sales YTD in 2022 are on par with 2020/21 (See graph on page 3).
Our team’s prediction is for a 2022 that mirrors 2021 in sales dollar volumes. Less clear are the impacts of continued interest rate increases and the potential of economic recession on the 2023 market.
REDUCTION IN NEW LISTINGS
The graph below shows that May, June, and July 2022 reported around 30 new homes listed per month. Compare this with the typical spring/summer surge of 40-50 new homes/month of previous years. Take home: After many years of a Sellers market and strong home sales, there are not that many Sellers remaining who are willing to sell/move.
REDUCTION IN PENDING SALES
The graph below shows that pending sales have fallen to 2017 levels. This is related to both lack of inventory and financial uncertainty.
REDUCTION IN CLOSED SALES
The graph below shows that YTD closed sales have fallen to five-year lows as well.
CONTINUED INCREASE IN MEDIAN SALES PRICE
The graph below showing the YTD median sales price for 2020-2022 helps equate the strong dollar volume numbers with the low sales numbers. The number of homes in 2022 may be dropping. But their price to date has only increased. (In April, the median sales price was an astounding 1.15M.)
