October 30, 2023: MARKET TEMPERATURE:

My team & I belong to each multi-list along Western PA. That means if you have questions about homes Washington County – we can help you. Erie County? I can help you there, too! Today we’re focusing on trends in the 5 closest counties: Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Lawrence & Mercer.

I typically look at 5 different statistical markers when I’m gauging our local trends. Each of these numbers give me a clue about how to guide my buyers & sellers.
I typically look at:
1. Average Sales Price
2. Median List Price
3. Ratio between Sales Price vs List Price
4. Number of Properties Sold
5. Months Supply of Inventory
If you wanted to know how much negotiating power buyers have right now. The best number to look at would be the average sales price vs listing price ratio. This shows how close homes are selling to the asking price. For a while, we were seeing 100% or above 100% – indicating that the sellers were getting their full asking prices & buyers were sometimes having to pay ABOVE asking to get their offers accepted. When a buyer pays above asking, that’s a strong indication that multiple offers are driving the prices up.
Right now, however, I’m seeing that homes are mostly selling for about 95% – 98% of the asking price. Multiple offers are still a thing, but not to the extent we’ve seen previously. Buyers are gaining a little more negotiating power here.
The average sales price is a little all over the place right now. Beaver, Butler & Allegheny Counties dipped a bit while Lawrence & Mercer counties have jumped up in their average sales price with 10% & 34% respectively. That’s huge & quite interesting because these are the counties that we typically see a lower sales price.
There could be so many reasons for this. Sellers have either undervalued their homes when putting them on the market or buyers are attracted to the reasonable property taxes of these areas & have gravitated there in an attempt to offset the rising interest rates.
Comparing the median list price with the average sales price is one way to see if there are more higher or lower priced properties selling in that area. For example, in Lawrence County there’s a $44,000 difference in average sales price & the median list price. This means that the recent numbers are showing us that there were quite a few higher priced homes that have sold from the market than we are used to seeing in these areas.
The trend I’m seeing all across the board has to do with inventory. Inventory is up! This is great news for buyers because they have so many more options to consider. For sellers, this just means that you’re going to have to navigate around more competition. If you’re listing your home soon, it would bode well for you to price your home reasonably or even (don’t kill me) underprice your property a touch to ensure that you’re attracting buyers to your property. If your home is already on the market, & your internet activity is still strong, but it’s not translating to showings – your Realtor should be suggesting a healthy price reduction to help gain some traction.

I’m Always Here & Happy to Help!

Katina Hunter
Team Lead for the Katina Hunter Team with Coldwell Banker
724-888-9020
Katina.Hunter@PittsburghMoves.com