The last half of the year, when compared to the first half, gives both buyers and sellers a good inclination of where their power has transitioned to and what they can expect to see as we enter 2012…

Buyer’s Market or Seller’s Market?

The above statistics show a slight incline in favor of the buyer for 2011, while proving the motivation of seller actions as they played in the market. Over the course of the year, this has been consistent with each month that passed. Homes in Brentwood decreased in average sale price by 21.5% with an increase of 17% in active inventory coming to the market each month and a 16% decreased average price per square foot. These are all statistics that show that the market was still pending “improvement” in the eyes of the general consumer. Sellers began in the last half of the year bringing more homes to the market and holding strong on their prices while listed and during negotiation as the average days on market increased and the sale price vs. list price increased 2%.

Insight for 2012:

For the month of January we saw the average sale price drop to under $2,000,000, active inventory jumped back up to 94 active listings at the end of the month, an increase to $666 per square foot and a steady 91% ratio of sale prices vs. listing prices. Not so strongly weighted in the favor of the buyer this month, but I look forward to seeing what the year brings as interest rates still dwindle and more buyers bring their home to the market.

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