Market Summary for the Beginning of November 2019

We note that October 2019 contained 23 working days and October 2018 contained the same. There is therefore no need to apply any adjustments when comparing the 2 months.

So what are the numbers telling us?

The seasonal increase in active listings during October did take place, but was weaker than normal and much weaker than last year
Demand remains high, looking at listings under contract and pending listing counts, although it always declines due to seasonal factors between September and November each year
Closed sales are still well ahead of last year and were almost as high as last month
Sales pricing is finally beginning to take off and has a lot of upward momentum building

Although the Cromford® Market Index has fallen a little over the past month, the huge rise over the prior 8 months is now beginning to have an effect on sales pricing. This is as expected. The CMI is a leading indicator which tends to need 6 to 12 months before its movements are reflected in sales pricing.

Since there is little sign of supply increasing substantially, we can expect continued strong upward moves in sales pricing over the next 6 months. We should be on the lookout for any changes in demand but at the moment interest rate movements appear favorable.

Here are the basics - the ARMLS numbers for November 1, 2019 compared with November 1, 2018 for all areas & types:

Active Listings (excluding UCB & CCBS): 14,525 versus 17,953 last year - down 19.1% - but up 5.6% from 13,755 last month
Active Listings (including UCB & CCBS): 18,322 versus 21,311 last year - down 14.0% - but up 4.1% compared with 17,592 last month
Pending Listings: 5,919 versus 4,770 last year - up 24.1% - but down 1.5% from 6,011 last month
Under Contract Listings (including Pending, CCBS & UCB): 9,716 versus 8,128 last year - up 19.5% - but down 1.3% from 9,848 last month
Monthly Sales: 8,018 versus 7,352 last year - up 9.1% - but down the tiniest possible amount from 8,019 last month
Monthly Average Sales Price per Sq. Ft.: $174.39 versus $165.41 last year - up 5.4% - and up 2.8% from $169.56 last month
Monthly Median Sales Price: $285,000 versus $262,000 last year - up 8.8% - and up 2.0% from $279,500 last month