When considering the homes for sale in my primary coverage area (East of GA 400), I have seen a pretty dramatic shift. It’s normal to see some slow-down in August. People are settling in and children are returning to school. The push to get moved during the summer months, to reduce the disruption to family routines, has passed once the fall arrives.

Historically, there has been a seasonal drop of 20%. This year the August figures for the lower price ranges (under $350K) plummeted 39%. Let’s take a closer look:

• Homes under $200K 14 houses sold in May, 9 in June, and 18 in July dropped to 3 last month.
• $200-275K homes sold at a rate of 35 in May, 28 in June, 15 in July and remained steady at 15 for August.
• $275-350K houses sold 25 in May, 22 in June, 26 in July and 18 in August.

The higher price ranges were also lower:

• $350-450K houses sold 25 in May, 29 in June, 29 in July and went to 12 houses sold in August.
• $450-600K houses sold 15 in August, down from 16 in May, 20 in June and 31 in July.

Inventories are running from flat to slightly down. This means that there are some sellers who are giving up and removing the “for sale” signs from their front yard.

Desiring a new house isn’t reason enough to sell today. It’s much harder to sell the existing house before buying a new home and this is a requirement for most would-be buyers.

My recommendation at this point, is if you don’t have to sell right now… don’t.