Mar. 29, 2009 - Home Prices "Bottom" - % Sold in 30

Similar, but an inverse relationship to the graph in the previous post.  Tracking the percentage of homes sold within 30 days or less from coming on market. In a hot market, more properties sell quickly, as is evidenced by the peak periods where the % of homes sold in 30 days went as high as 71% in April of 2007. The insanely low periods in early 2009 of heretofore unheard of numbers of 13% to 23% conincide with my "bottom" call back on February 7th.

Note that the final downward spike in the previous chart represents "Days on Market' for sales that went Pending since 3/1/09 and are not yet closed.  The final spike up does not appear here to the extent that it is reflected in pending transactions, but one would think if the median days on market was only 35, that the % sold in less than 30 days for those transactions, once closed, will be in the 20s. That will bring the tail end spike up higher, and as high as the previous post tail end is low in comparison to the "bottom" points earlier this year.

One thing that I think will be skewing some of the numbers as to tracking transactions, is the fact that "contract to close" periods are being extended.  For quite some time we could rely on a home sale to close within 30 days of an accepted offer, for the most part.  Due to more stringent lending criteria, including the limitations on which appraisers lenders will use, we are seeing extended periods needed for loan processing time.  Most times the appraiser is showing up much later in the game than they did in a hot market when you could turn an appraisal around in 5 business days.  Now it is not uncommon for the appraiser to show up on the 12th to 15th day of escrow and the appraisal to be completed in 20 days vs. 7 days.

In a lot of ways this is a good thing, as appraisers are being much more careful as to valuations and lenders are being much more careful regarding the quality of appraisers. But the net effect on "monthly"  volume, which we will study in a subsequent post, will skew the data a bit.

This factor DOES NOT affect % sold in 30 or less, as Days on Market and % sold in 30 or less relies on the period from list to pending and not on the length of time the sale and escrow take to finally close.

(required disclosure) stats hand compiled by ARDELL and not compiled, published or verified by NWMLS.