Whitney Ranch Market Update | December 2022

Whitney Ranch Market Update | December 2022

After a brief lull at the end of Q3, real estate activity within Whitney Ranch remained solid through November. A total of 9 homes closed within the community over the last 30 days including 3 new home sales and 6 secondary trades.

While the flurry of activity demonstrates a small amount of price erosion, the greater signal is opportunistic buyers acting upon finding a suitable property rather than waiting for a steeper discount that may, or may not, materialize in the future.

The 3 new homes completed and sold in November each transacted above $1,000,000. This reflects a continued willingness for consumers to pay some premium for quality new product; a trend begun prior to the frenzied market conditions of the last several years.

Conversely, individual sellers are calibrating to longer marketing periods. 5 of 9 re-sales transactions required a price reduction before going into a contract; a condition equally ascribed to overly ambitions expectations and slightly deflating prices. Interestingly, sellers in November were more willing to accept a price below asking as closings average 97% of ask (versus 99% in November) but sold nearly a week faster (36 days versus 42 last month). While these numbers are still exceptionally healthy in an historical context, they are laughable when compared to just 7 days to reach 103% of ask in November 2021.

Inventory remains consistently low with only 15 move-in-ready homes for sale, again representing about 2 months of inventory at current rates of absorption.  Modest supply combined with (seemingly) stabilizing interest rates indicate a general sense of security within an in-demand community like Whitney Ranch.

For consumers, this means the gift of more time to make educated purchasing decisions and the absence of outsized competition in the bidding process but has yet to convey a major shift in the leverage held in any given transaction. Savvy buyers are realizing that the right opportunity in today’s market is worth the investment in time compared to the possibility of a slightly reduced purchase price in the future.