Welcome, Readers! I have the latest local market data from the GLVAR MLS.  This is what’s really happening in our market right now, and you and your Realtor need to be aware before making purchase offers or putting your home on the market this weekend.

Available listings for sale:  15594 available single family homes, 4520 condominiums and townhomes. 12393 of these properties are vacant, 1908 occupied by tenants. Available houses dropped substantially. Over the last 4 weeks, the supply of single family homes is down 860, while we are only down 33 condos and townhomes. I think this is partly because there are so many houses available for under $100,000; why buy a condo when you can have a house for the same money? Another major factor is that some condo HOAs are in such trouble that the units effectively can’t be financed.

Distressed Properties: Of those listings, 6869 are noted as short sales and 6659 are bank-owned. The 4 week trend in short sales is up just 9, but for bank-owned the 4 week trend is down by 585. There is still a lot of bank-owned inventory, and that is where the majority of our sales are coming from.

Contingent and Pending listings:  Properties are in the process of being purchased are 7097 single family homes, 1333 condos and townhomes — breaking well over 8400. Both figures are up substantially over last week, and up 1071 from 4 weeks ago. Things continue to look good for future closings.

Single Family Home Prices: 289 under $50,000; 2149 between $50,000-$100,000; 6699 between $100,000-$200,000; 4687 between $200,000-$500,000; 1151 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 791 over $1,000,000 (down 7). The only price range with appreciably more listings was the $50,000-$100,000 range. Thankfully, I am seeing a lot of buyer interest in this range to go along with the inventory. For the record, 4 weeks ago we had 275 under $50,000; 1,955 between $50,000-$100,000; 7,193 between $100,000-$200,000; 5,197 between $200,000-$500,000; 1,205 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 809 over $1,000,000.

Condo and Townhome Prices: 447 under $50,000; 1598 between $50,000-$100,000; 1336 between $100,000-$200,000; 751 between $200,000-$500,000; 286 between $500,000-$1,000,000; and 166 over $1,000,000 (down just one continues a third week). Really negligible changes. However, 4 weeks ago we had merely 380 available under $50,000.

Recently sold: 650 properties have closed in the last week, under 700 but still substantial. Remember, closings tend to cluster around the end/beginning of the month. There were 3136 in the last 30 days, and 6527 have closed since the first of the year. Of closes in 2009, 515 were short sales and an amazing 5239 were bank-owned. Of the properties closed in the last week, an 69 properties were on the market less than a week and 260 were on the market 30 days or less; 6 were on the market over a year; median was only 46 days. Median sales price was up to $139,900 while median list price was $140,000 — not much difference between the two. 79 properties closed for $50,000 or less, 209 for $100,000 or less, 554 sold for $250,000 or less, only 4 sold fore more than $1,000,000 (days on market for these ranged from 60 to 913). It is clear that the “bargain basement” of housing will drive our market for some time to come.

Rentals: 4798 homes, townhomes, and condos were available for rent in the Valley. 1024 are willing to consider less than a year lease; 170 are willing to consider a lease option. There are 550 contingent leases and 1821 leases signed in the last 30 days. The foreclosure crisis has played havoc with available rental housing.

One Last Thing: Be sure to lock your moving truck. This story could have turned out worse. 

I solve residential problems: where am I going to live; how can I find a home in my budget; how am I going to sell this house; how can I find a Realtor in another state. To learn more, click the “Contact Me!” link in the sidebar, or just call the number at the top of the page. Have a great weekend!