Over the last 10 days or so, I have been previewing properties which are part of the Parade of Homes. Later this week, I will share some of my thoughts on this year’s Parade of Homes, but for now I’ll only say that “whew, there sure are a lot of expensives homes for sale out there.” As the data below shows the real imbalance in the market is in the upper end. Every day, I see a property which is priced such that I am stunned why it hasn’t sold. The best bargains in the market are currently in the upper end. If you can sell your existing home, what a great time to move up. Yeah, you might have to sell your existing home for 10 % less than what you had once thought, but you could well buy something in upper end at 15 % – 20 % discount. Do the math, your hoped for $300,000 home sells for $270,000. Uh oh, you’re down $30,000, but that $500,000 property is picked up at 15 % discount. That’s $75,000, so you’re up $45,000. And when this market turns, and they always do, your higher valued asset appreciates with more value. Anyway, food for thought. Here’s the sales data through September.

September YTD 2008 2007
Price Range  # of Sales % of Ttl Sales # of Sales % of Ttl Sales
0 – 99,999 334 4.84% 421 4.29%
100,000 – 199,999 1965 28.50% 2793 28.43%
200,000 – 299,999 2396 34.75% 3330 33.90%
300,000 – 399,999 1109 16.08% 1639 16.69%
400,000 – 499,999 493 7.15% 743 7.56%
500,000 – 599,999 234 3.39% 345 3.51%
600,000 – 699,999 135 1.96% 212 2.16%
700,000 – 799,999 81 1.17% 126 1.26%
800,000 – 899,999 53 0.77% 77 0.78%
900,000 – 999,999 20 0.29% 49 0.50%
1 Million plus 75 1.10% 88 0.92%
Total Sales/Pct. 6895 100.00% 9823 100.00%