January is traditionally one of Big Bear’s slowest months for home sales. Keep in mind that January closings are escrows that opened around the holiday season. For most people, the holidays are the busiest and most stressful time of the year, and buying a home is not a top priority.
Regardless of being a weak month to use as a comparison, it might be more revealing to compare January 2010 to previous January numbers.
Looking at these numbers, you can see an obvious trend downward, but the potential positive here is the leveling off of the price per square foot.
I have often stated that the price per square foot, in my opinion, is perhaps the most accurate indicator of where market values stand. In a previous post, I noted that in the 4th quarter of 2009, the uptick in price per square foot of Big Bear homes was a huge positive sign. On the same note, the slowing of the decline in January 2010′s price per square foot is far better than the pace in which things had previously been falling.
Comparing the number of January sales to the average amount of time a home is on the market reveals some better news too.
Note that while January sales of Big Bear homes have gone up over the last few years, the median amount of time a property is on the market before selling has come down significantly. Sales rising and homes selling more quickly is a positive sign that we are much better off than in 2007 and 2008 when sales dropped by almost 70% and over half the homes took over 4 months to sell.
So the big question is whether or not the Big Bear real estate market has stabilized. As I regularly say here in my forum, no one can definitively tell you what the future holds. But by looking at the market numbers not only in this January comparison, but also from over the last few months, the conditions of the Big Bear real estate market are far better than they’ve been in quite some time.
For more information, or for any Big Bear real estate questions you may have, please contact me!
Paul Zamoyta ~ 909.557.8285 ~ info@ZAMOYTA.com