Meriden Market Update September 2009

The Meriden housing market continued on a slight downward trend for September. New listings, pending sales and sold homes were again down slightly, but average days on market managed a significant drop. The condo market also saw some lower stats for the month but, just as in the single family market, average days on market was down considerably.

Some of the slowdown in the market was probably due to the approaching expiration for qualifying for the $8000 tax credit. There has been increasing talk recently about the possibility of the tax credit being extended and expanded to include move-up buyers, and this seems to have put many buyers in “wait-and-see” mode until a decision is made on the status of the tax credit. At this writing, it looks as though the credit will, indeed, be extended and expanded, but what the new criteria will be and when it will be signed into law still remains to be seen. If it is made law, we expect to see another uptick in market performance as the people on the fence get back into the house-hunting game. Also, current homeowners who have thought about selling and buying something else may also throw their hat into the ring, as they’ll now have more incentive to make a move. The normally quiet 4th quarter of the year may turn out to be quite interesting.

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).