Search Like An Agent!
Register for a FREE Listingbook Account

Don’t Be Surprised if it Takes a Few Months to Sell your Home in Today’s Market

by Karen Goodman on May 23, 2008

While the media continues to talk about the slow real estate market, there are plenty of homes that are selling.

However, sellers need to be prepared to price their home correctly to get it sold. And, they need to understand that homes simply aren’t selling as quickly as they did a few years ago.

Here is a comparison of residential sales since 2003 (sales for 2003-2007 are for all year, 2008 are January through April).

(NOTE: Residential sales consists primarily of single family homes, but may also include some condos and villas.)

Year	Number Sold	Avg. Days on Market	Sold in 0-30 Days	Avg. Sale $
St. Louis County
2008	2691	90	26.61%	185.3
2007	3268	79	31.55%	194.6
2006	3491	66	36.75%	188.2
2005	3577	62	40.06%	181.7
2004	3565	57	43.45%	177.8
2003	3320	57	41.66%	166.7
St. Charles County
2008	800	86	27.38%	211.0
2007	1079	79	29.56%	209.2
2006	1107	63	37.58%	209.3
2005	1125	61	41.33%	194.4
2004	1031	56	43.36%	178.9
2003	960	61	39.48%	171.9

Note the trends:

Unit sales are declining year over year
Average days on market are increasing
% of properties that sell in 0-30 days is declining
Average sale price for 2008 declined for St. Louis County, but increased for St. Charles County

In 2003, the time it took to sell a home averaged 2 months. In 2008, that number went up to 3 months. And homes that sold in 30 days or less went from 4 out of 10 down to 2 1/2 out of 10.

Sellers don’t need be afraid to jump into the market and put their homes on the market. But, with less homes selling and it taking longer to get a contract, they do need to get their home into top condition before going on the market and to price it right at the start.