Meriden Market Update July 2009

The Meriden housing market seemed to have come to life in July. Pending sales and closed sales were both up significantly, probably as a result of more first time home buyers taking action to receive the $8000 tax credit, which expires in about 90 days. Inventory levels and days on market were both down, and the absorption rate fell to its lowest level in many months, ending at 5 weeks worth of inventory. We’re also starting to see some multiple offer situations, a good sign that the housing market is at least trying to bounce back.

Condo sales rose more than 50% in July, again a probable result of the first time home buyer tax credit. Inventory levels fell again, ending at just 6 weeks worth of condos for sale. As with single family homes, the amount of time it’s taking for condos to sell dropped by about 33%, averaging about 67 days to sell, compared to almost 100 last month. based on these statistics, it appears as though we’re smack in the middle of a seller’s market; however, I think it will take several more months of sustaining these kinds of numbers before that can be said with any certainty. The outlook is very encouraging, though.

Here’s the comparison of the last three months:

*** = No stats due to no sales.

For the purposes of housing market info, it is usually considered to be a seller’s market when there is less than 13 weeks of inventory on the market; 13-26 weeks of inventory is considered a balanced market, and more than 26 weeks indicates a buyer’s market.

Data used was provided by the CTMLS (Connecticut Multiple Listing Service).