Columbia's Real Estate Market in Review

2011 turned out to be an interesting year in real estate.  Overall in comparison with 2010, there were several factors that turned out to be weaker.  However, I think there are good explanations behind these trends.  I will analyze the total units sold, average prices, days on market, and dollar per square foot.  The statistics provided are calculate for single-family homes in Boone County.


1. Total units sold in 2011 were 1524 compared to 1600 in 2010.  If you look at this trend month by month, however, you see a decline in homes sold for months February to June and an increase in homes sold for months July thru December.  This can be contributed to the first time home buyer tax credit that was offered in 2010 that led to higher sales in the first part of 2010. The tax credit expired in June 2010, so I believe that is why there is a decrease in overall homes sold. 

2. Both average list price and average sale price increased from 2010 to 2011.  Both increased about 3%, which is a good sign the market is turning around. 

3. The average home was on the market for 86 days in 2011, compared to 79 days in 2010.  Although this is an increase, we are still looking at this as a positive number because it is under 90 days.  Considering other market factors, for the average to be less than 3 months, our housing market in Columbia is still pretty strong. 

4. Price per square foot is a gauge we use to see how much a home is worth compared to others.  Since most houses vary by square footage, this gives a number to compare them.  In 2010, the average $/sq ft was $85.61.  In 2011, it was $84.58.  This amount did decrease by $1 per square foot.  However, because average prices went up, we can assume the average size of a sold home also went up.  In fact, the size of home sold went up by 5%, from 2037 square feet to 2152 square feet.  This is also probably due to the first time home buyers taking a larger market of the purchases in 2010. 

In summary, 2011 was a bit slower, but not slow enough to worry about.  There were other factors, including Snowpocalypse 2011 that slowed down the market in early 2011.  The Columbia Public Schools re-districting also may have had an affect on buyers moving forward with their purchases due to unknown school boundaries.

JK

Sources:
1. Columbia Board of Realtors MLS Statistics dated 2/9/2012. 
2. Press Release from Columbia Board of Realtors, 01/19/2012.