For December 2023, Boone County single-family home sales were up 6%, with 112 closed sales. Prices continue to tick up moderately. The average price in December was up 5% to $326,409, and the median price was up 4% to $285,000.
Days on market (DOM) leaped 74% from December last year to 33 days. Days on market for homes priced at $400k and above averaged 51 days on market, while homes below $400k averaged 25 days on market. Days on market for December prior to 2020 were typically 60 to 85 days for the month, so DOM is still quite a bit lower.
Inventory was up 8% to 3.15 months worth of inventory. Inventory growth occurred mainly in the price range between $300K to $999k, where the average inventory was 5.10 months. Inventory below $300K was still meek at 1.13 months.
The new year looks like it will start with a gain in single-family sales, as pending listings (homes under contract) jumped 34% to 122. This is a significant number for December; the average pending sales for December in the previous ten years has been 115, including considerable jumps in 2020 and 2021.
Building permits in December were up 46% from last year, with permits up in the City of Columbia, Boone County, and Ashland. One reason for the jump in permits is that permits in December of 2022 plummeted 55% from the year before.
For the last quarter of 2023, single-family sales were up 3%, the average price was up 5%, and the median price was up 3%. Building permits took off in the fourth quarter, up 47% from last year. New construction sales were up 8 out of 12 months during 2023, so an increase in permits in the previous quarter wasn’t surprising.
For 2023, single-family home sales fell 13% for the year. The average price increased 5% to $343,436, while the median price increased 5% to $302,990. Since 2019, the average and median price for a single-family home in Boone County has increased 45%.
Sales in the City of Columbia fell 18% last year while prices increased 4%. Sales of existing homes in Columbia fell 20% last year, and prices increased moderately at 3% for the average and median prices. After starting the year sluggish, new construction sales in Columbia finished about even in 2022 with 195 sales. The city’s average price for new construction was up 5%, while the median price increased by almost 10%. The increase in new construction probably can be attributed to higher construction loan rates, causing builders to incur higher carrying costs during the term of construction.
Condo sales were down 26% from last year, with the average price up 19% to $201,130 and the median price up 14% for the year to $145K. The median price for a condo in 2018 was just under $100k at $99,350; since then, the median price for a condo has jumped 66%. The average price for a condo in 2018 was $125,163, an increase of 61%.
Building permits for most of 2023 were down 16% for the first three quarters of the year, with a jump of 47% in the fourth quarter building permits only finished the year down 5%. The City of Columbia had a 7% decline in permits, while the County was slightly up, and Ashland building permits finished the year down 21%.
With the exception of home sellers under $300k, 2023 was a sour year for home sales, but it could’ve been much worse. It was unusual to see so many month-over-month double-digit sales declines during the year while prices kept increasing. There were several headwinds in 2023, with inflation and rising mortgage rates throughout most of the year. The good news is that as inflation eased and mortgage rates pulled back, home buyers took advantage of almost all price ranges during the last quarter of the year.
Home sales for 2024 are expected to increase nationally, and it looks like the same will occur locally, especially with a jump in pending sales in December. Mortgage rates have inched back up in the last few weeks, but the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) is still averaging below 7%. Mortgage rates are predicted to ease most of the year based on the bond market’s reaction to Federal Reserve decisions on interest rates during 2024. The Fed’s first meeting of the new year is tomorrow, but they are expected to leave the federal funds rate as is. The overall economy is very strong. GDP has been healthy over the last six quarters, especially the previous two; inflation continues to ease, consumer confidence improves, and unemployment remains under 4%. Local homebuyers in our area will continue to have a hard time finding homes to buy and rent as inventory remains low, condo prices have shot up, and insurance costs continue to surge.
SOURCE – COLUMBIA BOARD OF REALTORS CEO, BRIAN TOOHEY, MBA, RCE, EPRO
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