Snapshot: The STATE of Sioux Falls, SD Real Estate

What's going on in the Sioux Falls housing market?  For anyone asking, here's a quick snapshot of our market today (May 18, 2011):

There are 1,126 homes for sale on the market in Sioux Falls
Nearly 50% of these homes are priced at $150,000 OR LESS
161 of these homes are priced at or BELOW $100,000 OR LESS
There are currently 337 Homes with ACCEPTED offers on them right now.
Since the first of the year, 611 Homes have sold in Sioux Falls.
Nearly HALF of these sales have occurred since April 1st!

My perspective:
We are teetering on a shift in the seasonal market here. There are some good indications that the Buyer and Seller markets are reaching an equilibrium.  Historically this should shift a bit towards a Seller's market within the upcoming weeks.  The numbers above show an even stronger potential for the shift.

Consider that within the last month and a half over 600 homes have sold or are under contract and there are fewer than 1200 homes available.  This means a quickly shrinking availability of homes compared to home shoppers. This equals potential higher demand and therefore higher bargaining power for the Sellers out there!

If you are a Buyer, don't fret yet.  Great rates and programs are available to give you more power than ever.  Plus home prices have still been held low for now after coming off of the last couple of years, so you still have purchase strength for your dollar!

Pending Home Sales in Sioux Falls and Nationally

You can’t pick a better time this year than NOW to sell your home in Sioux Falls SD area.  As we who live here know the winter season is long and tough. As soon as the sun starts shining buyers start showing up. The market time from list to close could be 3-4 months from start to finish. So by getting your house on the market now you will be catching those prime buyers who want to find a place and move into it before schools start and autumn comes around.

We are already seeing pending home sales in our area going up and an increasing number of home buyers seeking houses.

This trend is more than just seasonal and regional. Here is the rising home sales trend as stated by the National Association of Realtors® …

Washington, DC, April 28, 2011

March saw another increase in pending home sales, with contract activity rising unevenly in six of the past nine months, according to the National Association of Realtors®.

The Pending Home Sales Index,* a forward-looking indicator based on contract signings, rose 5.1 percent to 94.1 in March from a downwardly revised 89.5 in February. The index is 11.4 percent below 106.2 in March 2010; however, activity was at elevated levels in March and April of 2010 to meet the contract deadline for the home buyer tax credit.

The data reflects contracts but not closings, which normally occur with a lag time of one or two months.

Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist, said home sales activity has shown an uneven but notable improvement. “Since reaching a cyclical bottom last June, pending home sales have posted an overall gain of 24 percent and demonstrate the market is recovering on its own,” he said. “The index means modest near-term gains in existing-home sales are likely, which would be even stronger if tight mortgage lending criteria returned to normal, safe standards.”