If you saw me over the weekend and thought I had an extra bounce in my step, it wasn’t from an additional dose of Geritol. It was from having finally taken a look at the May numbers published by the Central Virginia Muliple Listing Service. Earlier in the month, I had predicted that May sales would put us 1/2 % behind 2006 numbers. I was wrong. When the final tally came in, it was deja vu all over again. (My apologies to Yogi Berra.) Single family sales for 2007 are 1 sale ahead of 2006′s number.

 

    2007 2006 2005
Units Price Units Price Units Price
January 837 259,955 800 249,142 938 208,158
February 993 262,629 889 234,127 869 212,460
March 1,369 264,682 1,350 269,140 1,359 219,894
April 1,284 277,711 1,315 268,161 1,385 221,493
May 1,470 281,685 1,598 258,141 1,547 229,830
YTD/Avg Px 5,953 269,332 5,952 255,742 6,098 218,367

While I wish I did have the cavalier attitude of Alfred E. Newman and believe "what, me worry?", but I can’t because I am concerned. Our inventory levels are currently 16 % higher than the highest point in 2006. That’s about 1,500 homes, which is a entire month of absorption in the best months. As I mentioned earlier in the month, our inventory levels are 34 % higher than they were at the beginning of the year. There’s just too much for sale and sellers need to recognize this fact. That’s right, even old Brick will finally admit it - it’s a Buyer’s Market.