I really cannot stress enough the divergence of performance based on housing type and neighborhood. To give you an accurate answer your zip code and type of housing (detached verses attached) would be helpful.
If you live near your friends in Santee then I can help you out. Currently there are 98 actives and 33 pendings in Santee. That ratio is not horrible. However if you compare it to say Scripps Ranch there are 65 actives and 43 pendings. So you can see the results kind of speak for themselves there.
This is not a scientific equation but an off the cuff calculation for Santee… For Santee since 8/1/06 there have been 95 properties that have closed. That breaks down to a monthly sales rate of 95/6 = 15.3 properties closing escrow per month. Now since there at 98 active properties on the market one could say there are about 6.5 months of inventory on the market there. HOWEVER as you can see there are 33 pendings alone right now from the previous paragraph! So that shows that compared to the past 6 months the rate of going into escrow has grown. More then likely this is cyclical as we see springs are always brisk. If you ARE going to sell I advise you to get it on the market ASAP. However you really need to price it aggressively and I cannot stress enough how important it is to make it show well.
There are buyers out there right now. Most every zip code is performing better then the previous summer slowdown however the buyers are pickier and have a much different psychology then in the past. Offers come in lower, and buyers are getting much more for the dollar. Yes in some zip codes inventory is going down not up. I have watched Scripps Ranch go from 80 actives to 65 actives in 3 weeks. Most of those properties went into escrow, and did not drop off as people may suppose.
I am not saying that the market is not in a cyclical down cycle, I am saying that right now in some zips things are moving.
