Real Estate Listing Inventory Spikes After Months of Descent

Typically the first quarter of each new year has the fewest number of home sales when compared to the remaining quarters. As it can take approximately 45 to 60 days for a property to transfer ownership, the statistics that show up in the first quarter are actually an indication of the previous month’s activity. There are many factors that could go into deciphering this change, but the most obvious seems to be the holidays in the last quarter of every year. As the most celebrated holidays, Thanksgiving and Christmas could cause buyer and seller motivation to decrease, as many other obligations take precedence.

If January 2010 is a sampling of this first quarter, then the island-wide trend continues with sales being lower than the end of 2009.

Examining year-to-date sales activity shows that in January East Oahu had an increase in the number of sales when compared to the same month last year. Single-family homes boasted an increase of seven sales and condominiums increased by ten. 

Another increase worthy of mention is the number of new listings that entered the market. For the past five months, the island-wide, new-listing inventory for single-family homes has been decreasing, however in January, it spiked. The same is true for condominiums, though this increase spiked following three months of descent. East Oahu fared the same when comparing January 2010 and 2009. In 2010 there were a total of 94 new listings. In January 2009 there were 93.

As buyer and seller behavior is not an exact science, it is difficult to pinpoint a precise reason for the increase in new listings. One possible reason could be the extension of the first-time home buyer credit as the numbers show that this has helped increased buyer activity. This, coupled with low interest rates, may be motivational.

The new median sales prices for the areas of East Oahu are shown in the graph. Some fluctuations are greater than others, but it’s important to note that a few high or low sales in a given area can skew the median price. This also is true for the island-wide median sales price.