Consumers love Amazon because they can find, buy and have everything under the sun delivered to them without having to “go shopping” away from their home and/or their work place. Home sellers in Arlington VA, particularly top tier home sellers in Arlington, love Amazon because, since the behemoth announced its move into the neighborhood, luxury home prices are now averaging $2.4M, an increase of +22% over the same period last year. And, overall, Arlington now has -50% less inventory now that it had in April 2018.
According to Zillow, among the 1,000 counties it analyzed in April 2019, Arlington County and its neighboring Alexandra City and Fairfax County “ranked among the seven tightest (lowest inventory) markets in the country. Even Loudon County, Arlington’s more suburban neighbor, ranked twelve in terms of low inventory counties.
In the same recent National Mortgage News article, it was reported that home sales in Baton Rouge LS increased +2.8% in April 2019 compared with April 2018, the second time home sales in Baton Rouge saw an y/y increase this one-year.
According to the Greater Baton Rouge Association of Realtor’s Multiple Listing Service, “981 homes sold in metro Baton Rouge compared to 954 MLS sales in its 9-parish region in April 2018.”
The median sale price in Baton Rouge in April 2019 was $200,000, an increase of 0.5% from last year. Its average sale price came in at $229,507, an increase of +3.1%. Pending sales in Baton Rouge increased +7.7% and inventory rose +7.8% compared with last year.
Pending sales in Manhattan rose an eye-opening +27% in April 10 compared to last year at the same time, the highest level of signed contracts since the spring of 2015, according to Street Easy. This increase in pending sales was likely due to the fact that property prices in the country’s costliest urban neighborhood dropped. Streeteasy’s Manhattan Price Index dropped -5.2%, or -$60,096 to $1.01M, the lowest price level since May 2015.
Additionally, StreetEasy reported that inventory in Manhattan dropped an impressive -10% in April 2019 compared with April 2018. “April brought some good news to those who have feared a continued slide in the (Manhattan) sales market,” said Grant Long, StreetEasy’s senior economist. “Early signs tell us that some sellers are finally pricing their homes more realistically and finding buyers when they do.”
According to Jonathan Miller, president of the appraisal company Miller Samuel, “The tax law is forcing buyers and sellers to re-calibrate what value is. I do feel like there has been an over-reactions to the tax law, and that the market will eventually digest the change.”
