COMPARISON OF TRAILING 3-Month CONTRACT ACTIVITY
2015-2017 Month to Month Increases
Following historic trends of seasonal activity, new purchase contracts in May rose to the highest level so far this year. The 41 Offers to Purchase & Purchase and Sale Agreements (excluding duplicate records) were nearly identical to figures posted in each of the past three years, though notably lower than the 55 contracts reported in May of 2013.
Based on the relatively limited contracts recorded in April 2017, compared to historical levels, May 2017 contract activity was encouraging and followed our commentary last month that the 2017 market had taken a little longer to gain sales momentum as compared to recent years.
RESIDENTIAL SALES BY PRICE POINT
RELATIVELY STABLE YOY; DECLINE IN $1MM-$2MM
At the end of the first quarter we reported that single-family sales activity indicated a noticeable upward shift into the $2MM-$3MM price point as compared to the same period in 2016. More transaction data through May 31, 2017 reveals that home sales in this price point were identical to last year with 20 transactions recorded for both years. As a percentage of total home sales, sales in the $2MM-$3MM price point rose 5 percentage points compared to the five-year average through the same period.
Not surprisingly, the price point that declined the most was the $1MM to $2MM segment which saw 41 transactions through May 31, 2016 and just 34 transactions year-to-date. In the high-end, specifically in the $6MM- $8MM range, there were two more transactions as compared to one year ago. Ultra-high-end activity ($10MM+) remained even to last year and to the five-year average.