Meriden Market Update January 2010

Meriden Market Update for January 2010

Here’s the way the housing market is shaping up in Meriden as of January 31, 2010:

There are currently 237 single family homes for sale in Meriden:

• Low list price: $17,500
• High list price: $749,000
• Average list price: $217,000
• Median list price: $209,000
• Average Days on Market: 30
• Homes sold on average for 96.7% of list price

There are 77 homes currently under contract, priced between $47,000 and $399,000. Based on the number of homes sold in January (24), it would take approximately 10 months to sell the current inventory.

As for condominiums, there are currently 104 condos for sale:

• Low list price: $39,000
• High list price: $399,900
• Average list price: $134,537
• Median list price: $137,450
• Average Days on Market: 61
• Condos sold on average for 96.2% of list price

There are currently 29 condos under contract, priced between $54,900 and $210,000. Based on the number of condos sold in January (10), it would take approximately 10 months to sell the current inventory.

Here is a chart comparing annual home and condo sales in Meriden for the past 5 years to year-to-date 2010:

The number of homes sold has been trending downward since 2005, but saw a 20% increase last year. Early projections put annual home sales for 2010 at 420, but several factors, including the Tax Credit and low interest rates, should work to push sales to higher levels in the coming Spring and Summer markets.

Condos, on the other hand, have been trending downwards every year, with 2009 sales being only 41% of 2005 sales. With 10 sales in January, it looks like sales with be flat this year, but it’s far too early to tell.

The following chart compares average days on market, or how many days it took to sell a home or condo during the month of January over the past 5 years, and compared to year-to-date January:

Over the past five years, both houses and condos have taken increasingly longer to sell, reaching a 5-year high last year of 110 days and 83 days, respectively. Those times are down sharply in January, but it remains to be seen if they can be sustained or improved upon throughout the rest of the year.

Similar to the Wallingford market, it appears sales are going up and selling time is getting shorter, which bodes well for the market up until April 30th, when the home buyer tax credit expires, and hopefully beyond.

Data used was provided by the CTMLS (Connecticut Multiple Listing Service), and is considered reliable but not guaranteed.