You read that right. The current real estate market on Sanibel is classified as a Buyer’s Market (as of April 2023).
How Do We Know?
The statistics tell us. We don’t use our “gut feeling” to determine the market conditions. We use stats like the Months Supply of Inventory (MSI), which represents the number of months it will take our market to absorb the current inventory available if no other homes came on the market.
How is the Months Supply of Inventory (MSI) calculated?
Most people divide the number of active listings by the rolling 12-month average of sold or pending listings. For this blog, we referenced NAR’s RPR tool which uses the 12-month average of newly pending listings.
What Determines a Buyers’ vs Sellers’ Market?
The numbers vary slightly depending on who you talk to, but for the most part, industry professionals use the following scale to determine the market type:
First Buyers Market in 2 Years
The chart below shows us that the last time we had MSI <6 months was in September 2020. For much of 2021 and 2022, the MSI was actually in the 1’s which represents a strong seller’s market. Notice in January of 2023, the MSI increased above 6 for the first time in over 2 years.
Hurricane Effects on MSI
This market shift is largely due to Hurricane Ian, which made landfall in late September 2022. Following the hurricane, it took a few months for island homeowners to assess the damage to their homes and decide how to proceed. But, as you can see in the chart below, there have been more new listings hitting the market in the past 6 months.
In January 2023, there were 104 new listings that came on the market on Sanibel Island. That is a major increase from the 2 years prior to Hurricane Ian when Sanibel averaged 40 new listings per month. January was the peak, as you can see, the number of new listings in April 2023 was back down to 45 properties.
More Homes Sold YTD
To be honest, we weren’t really sure how the market was going to react following the hurricane, since Ian brought much more devastation than previous storms. Understandably, home sales stalled for the first month or two. Since then, the number of homes sold on Sanibel year-to-date from Jan-April 2023 (154 homes sold) is actually higher than the same timeframe last year (141 homes sold).
Should You Buy or Sell Now?
The answer to this question largely depends on your specific circumstances. No computer-generated response or single market statistic should determine your course of action without considering other important factors.
Our team of real estate professionals is in-tune with the current market conditions and has helped many clients work through the pros and cons of buying and selling. Let us help you navigate the current market. Please don’t hesitate to give us a call at 239-472-1950 or email team@mccallionrealty.com to start the conversation.
