March 8, 2019

It’s not the only reason home listings and sales have dropped this year, but the weather also hasn’t helped.

Closed sales in the city of Sioux Falls totaled 129 homes in February, down 14.6 percent from the same time in 2018, according to the Realtor Association of the Sioux Empire Inc.

New listings fell 14.5 percent.

“It is worthwhile to mention the weather when discussing residential real estate for large portions of the U.S. for February 2019 because this month has turned in some impressively cold, rainy and snowy days that have stalled some buying and selling actions,” according to an analysis included with the report.

“Nevertheless, housing markets have proven to be resilient despite predictions of a tougher year for the industry. It is still too early to say how the entire year will play out, but economic fundamentals remain positive.”

In Sioux Falls, the median sales price of a home sold in February was $200,000 – identical to the same time last year, while the average price of a home dropped 4 percent to $227,127.

Inventory has dropped to a 2.7-month supply, down 24 percent, and those homes that are on the market are selling slightly faster at an average of 95 days compared with 104 days on the market last year.

The National Association of Realtors recently reported that national existing home sales were down slightly during January and that pending sales were up in year-over-year comparisons.

“It is worth noting that some softening of sales was anticipated, as was a positive sales bounce during January 2019 after a slow end to 2018,” the report said.

“Weather-related events have hampered some of the necessary machinations of making home sales during February 2019, yet buyers have shown determination toward achieving their homeownership goals.”