We had about 2,250 sales of SFRs and condos through the local MLS last month. The total number of sales through for 2006 was 29,086; this is less than 2,500/month average. So far, 2007 shows to be running about 15% lower in sales volume than 2006.

Until the number of available listings gets down to the point where there is more balance between supply and demand I don’t think it makes any difference in terms of price stability whether we have 15,000 actives or 25,000 actives. Too many is too many; and it will be those sellers who are compelled to sell at any price, regardless of loss, who will compete hard enough in pricing to close the sale. Everything else will sit while those sellers await better days or a more realistic perspective, whichever occurs first.

Come on back with this argument when the inventory of active SFRs and condos hits 9,000 or so and we can BEGIN to talk about prices becoming more stable. Until then…..