I was on another online group reading some comments. An agent from the Arizona area stated that in her area, only 6% of homes that were listed were heading to a close this year. So that means 94% of the listings in her area are not successful sales.

I was intrigued by this statistic so I looked it up for Salem, Oregon where Tomson Burnham covers.

Our local MLS has recorded 4457 residential listings in Salem this year, and so far 1524 have sold. 34% of our listings actually head to close. Now this statistic tells me nothing about the local market without looking at some previous history, so I ran some numbers…

In 2006 4498 listings, 2420 closed, 54% success rate
In 2005 3931 listings, 2609 closed, 66% success rate
In 2004 3950 listings, 2181 closed, 55% success rate
In 2003 3631 listings, 2056 closed, 57% success rate

These numbers, I think, are an accurate reflection of our market. We did have great appreciation here, but not like other parts of the county, and as a result our downfall, while painful, is also not as bad as other parts of the country.

What this means for sellers is that they have to be prepared for long market times. They have to be realistic and understand that they are not in a position of strength to negotiate terms on the contracts they receive. As I stated in a previous post, great homes are still selling. If you think that because your home is in a desirable neighborhood, that it will sell for a premium. You will not sell your home.

The stats don’t lie. Sellers have a 34% chance of selling their home in our current Salem real estate market. Make sure your home and agent are up to the task at hand.

Related posts:

  1. What a buyer agent should be doing for you…
  2. Picking a good real estate agent