All Real Estate Is Local
One of the key factors experienced Realtors consider when pricing and listing a home is the current housing absorption rate. The absorption rate is critical in determining an areas housing supply because it is based on what is actually happening in the local housing market.
Sellers are bombarded with locally irrelevant information from the various news media. These reports tend to be national, state, or regional in nature. Although it is always good to know and understand what is happening around us, these trends tend to have minimal impact on the local real estate market.
Current Housing Supply
Based on local data for the 12 month period ending October 31, 2007, the current absorption rate for the Rocky Mount, North Carolina area is 114 homes SOLD per month.
Now, applying the local absorption rate to the currently available local inventory gives us the local housing supply. The Rocky Mount area has a current housing supply of 9.2 months.
Supply and Demand
Price in real estate is mostly a matter of supply and demand, just like every other industry.
Understanding the local supply of and demand for housing is critical in determining whether we are in a sellers, balanced, or buyers market. Most experts agree that a balanced market (this is where neither the buyer nor the seller has an advantage) exists when there is a 4 - 6 month housing supply.
With a 9.2 month housing supply the Rocky Mount area is definitely in a buyers market.
A Buyers Market
What does all this mean? The local housing market is saturated with available housing. A 9.2 month housing supply confirms that we are still in a strong "Buyers" market and will be for the foreseeable future.
What is a Buyers market? This is when market conditions exist that allows buyers to obtain concessions from sellers that they would not receive in a balanced market.
If you are looking to buy, this market is for you. In this market buyers typically get more for their money and receive seller concessions regularly.
There is no better time to buy than right now!
If you are a seller this is not a bad time to sell. You just need to have a realistic expectation of your homes value and need to work with a Realtor that will provide maximum exposure for your property.
About the Author
David C. Recker is a Top Producing Realtor Licensed in North Carolina. Dave works at RE/MAX Point East in Rocky Mount, North Carolina.
Dave's website, http://www.ncrealestateweb.com/ , is one of North Carolina's top real estate websites and you can read frequently posted Articles and Blogs by Dave at NCRealEstateWebBlog.
