The rolling 12-month median sales price for Gem County home sales was $484,225 in September 2022, a 33.5% increase from the year before. Due to the smaller number of transactions that occur in the area, we use a rolling 12-month median sales price to get a better idea of the overall trends.
Listings have spent more time on the market, averaging 36 days in September 2022 compared to 18 days a year ago. These longer market times have allowed more housing inventory to accumulate, giving buyers more options to choose from. There were 135 available homes for purchase at the end of the month, an increase of 31.1% compared to September 2021.
With 4.3 months of supply, the Gem County housing market is considered a “balanced” market, as with 4-6 months of supply it does not necessarily favor buyers or sellers. Months’ Supply of Inventory, or MSI, refers to the number of months it would take for the current inventory of homes on the market to sell given the current sales pace. MSI is calculated by dividing the current month’s inventory by the number of sales in the last 12 months.
With 16 closings last month, the number of home sales decreased 51.5% compared to the same month a year ago. Of those, 11 were existing/resale homes and five were newly constructed homes. There were 40 pending sales — properties with an accepted offer that are expected to close within 30-60 days — a decrease of 14.9% compared to September 2021, marking the 13th consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
Fewer sales could be attributed to higher mortgage interest rates, which reduce purchase power for buyers and cool demand. According to Freddie Mac, retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the average 30 year fixed-rate mortgage was 6.7% on September 29, 2022, more than double the 3.0% average in September 2021 and throughout the majority of last year.
“With the shifts in the housing market and economists talking about an overall recession, many are naturally asking, ‘What’s next?’” said Enrico Crum. “While we don’t make forecasts, REALTOR.com reports that housing experts anticipate that prices will decline in the next year or so, particularly in markets like ours, where we saw prices appreciate so quickly.”
