It's been a tough November for home sales, as evidenced by the recent statistics from the Lancaster County Association of Realtors (LCAR).
According to LCAR, 281 homes sold in November 2008, compared to 433 homes sold in November 2007.
Ouch! That is a 35.1% decrease!
The five-year average of 441 isn't even close for this year's sales.
For the first 11 months of the year, there has been a 23% decrease in sales, or 4,144 sales this year compared to 5,384 sales last year.
The average sales price for November has decreased by 12.2% to $169,423 from $192,900. That is clearly evidenced to me by the agreements of sale that I have currently in place. This is great news for buyers! Not so great for sellers, unless you can take solace in the fact that there are indeed buyers out there looking for homes -- but not OVERPRICED homes.
The good news is that historically we have seen an increase in values, as the average price in November of 1998 was $116,930 -- an increase of 44.9% compared to today's prices. What does this mean? If you have equity in your home and you need to sell, you are in a prime position to put your home on the market and still reach a fair amount of interest, as long as you are priced accordingly to today's market trends.
November 2008 Lancaster Real Estate Sales Data Courtesy of LCAR:
For more information on Lancaster PA Real Estate, or questions
about buying or selling a home in Lancaster County PA,
please contact
Jeannie Kontis at (717) 330-5137
or email at Jeannie@JeannieSellsLancaster.com.
Search for Lancaster Homes for Sale at www.JeannieSellsLancaster.com
Jeannie Kontis, RealtorⓇ, is a member of the award-winning Bob Wells Realty Group of Long & Foster Lancaster Real Estate, Inc, and serves buyers and sellers of real estate throughout Lancaster County.
