Happy New Year from all of us at Lezamiz Real Estate Co.! This week we will look back at 2008 and the real estate price trends that Twin Falls, Idaho experienced throughout the year. Using MLS (Multiple Listing Service), we pulled up homes that sold in 2008 in Twin Falls, Idaho. This search gives the average price of all the homes sold in each price range per quarter and their average days on market. Our search focused on homes sold in the following three price ranges:
1. $120-159,999
2. $200-249,999
3. $250-299,999
$120-159,999
In the first quarter, houses in Twin Falls priced from $120-159,999 sold for an average of $140,357 and spent an average 101 days on the market. This decreased to 96 days on market in the second quarter, and the average selling price also declined to $138,005. During the third quarter, the average sales price flat lined at $138,137 and an average of 88 days on the market. The year ended with the average price increasing slightly to $138,447 for homes in this price range, with an average of 84 days on market.
As sellers continued to adjust their asking price and more buyers entered the market, we saw selling prices stabilize and inventory decline as homebuyers took advantage of lower interest rates.
$200-249,999
Homes listed at $200-249,999 were averaging $223,707 in early 2008, and staying on the market for an average of 110 days. The average selling price in the second quarter increased to $225,930, but the average days on market also increased to 137 days. In the third quarter, the average days on market again increased to 145 days, but the average price of houses sold was down to $214,682. The fourth quarter again brought significant change, with the average days on market dropping to 114, and the average price increasing to $220,588.
Sellers in this market held out through the third quarter with higher asking prices and paid for it with longer days on market. Then as we saw prices finally soften in the third quarter, we saw, once again, more buyers in the market, prices dropping, and more success for sellers getting their house sold in a shorter period of time.
$250-299,999
At the beginning of the year, homes in the $250-299,999 price range were selling for $270,130 on average. Their average days on market were 100 for the first quarter. In the second quarter, this decreased to 77 days, and the selling price went down slightly to $269,590. The third quarter saw another slight drop in the average selling price to $268,301. The average days on market skyrocketed in the third quarter to 140. During the fourth quarter this dropped dramatically to an average of only 38* days on market. The selling price went down significantly to $255,000 on average.
Fewer and fewer buyers entered this market and numbers of listings increased throughout the year. Demand dropped and days on market increased dramatically. Sellers had to make significant price concessions to encourage sales in the fourth quarter.
General trends for 2008 found home prices in Twin Falls, Idaho steadily declining. However, selling prices dropped only three percentage points on average. Taken separately, home prices for the $120-159,999 and $200-249,999 price ranges only dropped one percentage point. The biggest price drop was 6% in the $250-299,999 price range.
Be sure to check the Lezamiz Real Estate Co. blog again in two weeks, when we will talk about rent vs. buy, and the important decision to buy a home!
*Days on market were statistically skewed because one sale made in the fourth quarter of 2008 was shown as on market for zero days.