To begin with, 2023 is a slower market. Make no mistake trading is occurring yet days on market and absorption rates have risen, so listings are sitting for longer before they are purchased. Could it be that buyers are being cautious, picky, not as decisive as we’ve known them to be? Either way there are folks looking at property to purchase and aren’t as quick to put pen to paper. Again, to my story line of the winter, some of us are finding comfort in the chaos where as other haven’t yet.
The condo market is posing a trend that won’t surprise us. Inventory is actually up so comparatively speaking I argue that is not the culprit of why sales are down 49%. On the other hand, the average sales price for the condo market at a whole is down 9% and notably down 16% in Ketchum and 20% in Warm Springs.
In the single-family home department lack of new inventory could be the case for lack of sales. Inventory as a whole is up yet down 21% in “new to market”. As whole volume is down 25% yet the average sales price is up 16%. So maybe that’s it? Bellevue’s average price climbed 42% and is no surprise as affordability is typically better the further south you get which has driven up demand. Elkhorn is down 52% which at first is surprising but then remember Elkhorn single family homes defied all odds in ’22. Thus, what goes up must come down to paraphrase Isaac Newton.
As you can imagine vacant land in the winter is a tough sell in most cases. Pair this with a low amount of new inventory and you’re talking about a portion of our market that’s down 81% in volume in the first quarter. As whole there are 134 total parcels available versus 149 a year ago, so it’s not the amount of total inventory it’s the amount of it that’s new this quarter that has contributed to the lack of sales. Except in Mid Valley and outside of the county where folks seem to be eager to list. The later more interesting than directly effecting. Good news for buyers is the average sale price is down 42% and selling on average of 89% of asking. So, some discounts being had.
Farm and Ranch, have sold four total units in the first quarter and am venturing to say that they were pretty small parcels as the total volume was only six and a half million. It doesn’t take a crystal ball to know that this sector in real estate doesn’t spice up until warm months are upon us.
