You can see the rush to use the $8,000 first time buyer tax credit in the number; everyone thought it was going to expire. Congress fooled you. Now the months of March and April 2010 will repeat what happened in September and October 2009. So even if we have winter I’ll bet $10 against your $1 that the first four months of 2010 exceed the first four months of 2009 in terms of pending sales activity. Our friends in the construction business have benefited also by the governments largess with the tax dollar as you can see from the numbers. They builders have responded in spades adjusting their product to the market place and moved down in their price to sell homes, the market at work. Of course there is one segment that is taking a hit due to all the first time buyers flooding the purchase marker and you can see that in what’s happening to the rental availability and price declines in the rental market. When you’re robbing peter to pay Paul that is what happens, there is always collateral damage some where in the market place.

Market update at glance

11/30/2009

Year

Percentage Increase

Yellowstone County

 

2008

2009

or -Decrease

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential  Closed Sales Units

 

1837

1820

 

-1%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential  Pending Sales Units

131

210

 

60%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Residential  Active Property Units For Sale

858

802

 

-7%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average sales price Single family Home

$208,560

$199,960

 

-4%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average Square feet Single family Home

2321

2252

 

-3%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Median sales price Single family Home

$185,000

$180,200

 

-3%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Median Square feet Single family Home

2214

2144

 

-3%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average Days on Market Till Offer Received

 

 

 

 

Single Family Home

 

 

61

63

 

3%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Absorption rate -

TIME IN DAYS

 

 

 

 

Time it would take for all existing

 

161

 

 

properties to sell with no new inventory coming

 

 

 

into the market place - residential

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SINGLE FAMILY PERMIT ISSUED FOR MONTH

9

29

 

222%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SINGLE FAMILY PERMIT ISSUED FOR YEAR

252

228

 

-10%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average Number of Rentals Advertised Sundays

301

397

 

32%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average Asking Price for a Rental Home

$1,114

$1,028

 

-8%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Average Asking Price for a Rental Apartment

$678

$672

 

-1%