A Very Strong May

Written by Leslie Kopp Thursday, June 04, 2009

By any measure one could use, May was a very strong month. From the latter months of 2008 and all during 2009, the year to year comparisons have been awful. I did not like reporting them either. Some thought I was too negative. But facts are facts, and my readers tell me they want to know reality. And this month the reality is great!

20 lots and single family homes went under contract in May. For the first time since last October, the year to year comparison was positive, strongly positive. The equivalent May number in 2008 was 12, 60 percent of 2009's transactions. In dollar terms, comparisons were even better, with $22 million under contract this year compared to only $8.3 million the year before. For some time now we have been reporting that sales were concentrated well below the million dollar level. That also is starting to change. Almost half of the contracts this May were over $1 million compared to only 8 percent last year.

I was fortunate this month as well, involved in 40 percent of the lots and single family homes and 46 percent of the dollar value under contract. While there is often a pause after a hot month like May, I am convinced that the positive trend will continue. It's about time!