March 2020 is now behind us, so it's time to review the sales data. The majority of the sales closed in March 2020 were the result of purchase contracts signed in February, before the current crisis related to the novel coronavirus took hold in the United States, so it's too soon to see the full impact on the sales data. These are the key takeaways:
- The number of sales were down -4.0% compared to March 2019, which is within expected year to year variability.
- We don't see an indication that a significant number of deals destined to close in March fell apart.
- Sales price and sales price/square foot ($/SF) were up +2.8% to +11.4% for March 2020 compared to the prior year.
- The number of new pending sales for the last week of March was down to 176, which is -14.6% lower than the week before.
- Currently inventory remains at the same level it has been for most of 2020, at just over 1000 homes.
- It would take 6 weeks to consume inventory at this rate of new pending sales, which would still be a seller's market.
As long as inventory continues to hold steady at around 1000 single family homes in Hamilton County and at least 135 new pending sales occur each week, I expect prices to remain strong. If you are wondering how buying or selling a new home has changed in this environment, please reach out!
