Sellers withdrew a significant amount of listings in December. This is important because it means, well, that these homes didn’t sell, and that their owners will likely try again in early 2009.
Add those properties to the ones intended to go on the market for the first time, and you potentially have an oversupply of homes. There simply are not enough qualified or motivated buyers out there right now, and that will probably be the case through most of 2009.
There were 151 single-family homes withdrawn from the market last month—a very large number. And a whopping 216 condos and 91 TIC interests were also withdrawn. The fallout? Sellers will hopefully get the message that they will have to price their properties based on realistic comparative sales–most notably, sales that closed in November and December. Buyers, take note: You’ll find less “what-are-they-smoking?!” listing situations and more value this year.