Knowing how much inventory is on the market is an important statistic to know when considering the price of your home. These figures are for residential home sales. The absorption rate is how fast homes are selling on a monthly basis. Inventory is how long it would take homes to sell at that rate assuming that nothing new came on the market.

Salem:
30 day absorption rate: 139
Inventory: 12.2 months
Average Price: $230,274
Average DOM: 131

Salem’s inventory had been holding steady at 9 months. This recent bump in inventory is not a surprise though. With the average home price remaining fairly flat, it was just a matter of time before inventories started to increase. As sellers try for one last push before the holidays, I would expect inventories to remain high.

Keizer:
30 day absorption rate: 35
Inventory: 7.3 months
Average Price: $218,699
Average DOM: 101

Keizer real estate is approaching the neutral market area of 6 months. While still in a buyer’s market, it is a small advantage. This is consistent with my experience in helping some buyer’s purchase in Keizer last month. Good homes were selling with multiple offers. With it’s proximity to Portland, Keizer real estate is trending towards neutrality.

Silverton:
30 day absorption rate: 13
Inventory: 9.8 months
Average Price: $262,093
Average DOM: 89

The Silverton market is recovering nicely right now. Still has a ways to go towards that normal market, but the incredibly high inventories at the start of the year continue to trend towards normal. Many sellers are not actually selling their homes, but are choosing to rent or take the off the market, so sellers need to make sure that if you have to sell, be priced well. Silverton tends to have the highest average sales price of the metro towns, and that remained true for August as well. This lack of affordability may make for a difficult market as credit problems are still in the future.

Stayton:
30 day absorption rate: 5
Inventory: 13.2 months
Average Price: $193,100
Average DOM: 143

With high inventories and longer days on the market, Stayton is slower to recover than many of the other metro cities. Even with the affordability of Stayon, increased gas costs are making this city less attractive for commuters, since any mortgage savings are just offset with increased gas costs.

Aumsville:
30 day absorption rate: 4
Inventory: 8 months
Average Price: $213,925
Average DOM: 138

Aumsville inventories are had a minor jump from 7.5 to 8 months. Overall, fairly stable.

Turner:
30 day absorption rate: 3
Inventory: 6.3 months
Average Price: $212,976
Average DOM: 104

Turner is currently sitting in a neutral market. With a 6 month inventory and around 3 months to sell, it is the right direction for normalizing the market.

Jefferson:
30 day absorption rate: 4
Inventory: 7 months
Average Price: $130,350
Average DOM: 112

Jefferson inventories are all over the map. There was a lot of building that occurred in Jefferson due to cheap land and proximity to Salem. Whether or not this market is stabilizing remains to be seen. The wild fluctuations in inventories is concerning.

Independence:
30 day absorption rate: 8
Inventory: 7.6 months
Average Price: $174,709
Average DOM: 96

Independence has been working it’s way toward a normal market for several months. The market there does appear to be stabilizing at this point.

Monmouth:
30 day absorption rate: 5
Inventory: 11 months
Average Price: $213,610
Average DOM: 110

In July inventories in Monmouth were at the 5 month range. The huge jump into the 11 month range is simply due to lack of sales.

Dallas:
30 day absorption rate: 17
Inventory: 9.5 months
Average Price: $225,944
Average DOM: 137

Dallas inventories jumped up last month, and then back down this past month. Not the most stable. There is still some new construction occurring how in this area, so the market may be volatile for a while.

Now that you are all done reading my August market report, and have completely fallen asleep. Go get some coffee.  Otherwise if you are feeling adventurous, read July’s report.

(c) Copyright, 2008. Melina Tomson, All Rights Reserved (ie…be nice and create your own content. Don’t steal mine…)

Related posts:

  1. Coffee and Stats: July 2008 Inventories for the Salem Metro Area
  2. Absorption Rates and Inventories for the Salem Oregon Metro Area June 2008
  3. Salem Metro Area Home Inventories
  4. Coffee and Stats: August Salem Regional Market Stats
  5. Absorption Rates and Inventories on Home Prices in Salem Oregon