Salem Q1 Housing Market Report: chronic shortage of supply

As condo sales in Salem are about double the level of Single Family Home (SFH) sales, I will start with the condo market. After holding pretty steady for the last several quarters, the median price jumped 25% in Q1 from a year ago, driven by a shift from sales under $300,000 to sales over $300,000.

Source: MLS, Oliver Reports

Sales by price
Here is the breakdown of sales by price:

Source:MLS, Oliver Reports

Current inventory
This chart shows sales YTD, pending sales and current inventory by price:there are just 24 condos currently for sale under $400,000, compared with 131 sales or pending sales YTD.

Source: MLS, Oliver Reports

SFH
In contrast to the condo market, the median price of a SFH was largely unchanged in Q1.

Source: MLS, Oliver Reports

Sales by price
Sales were consistent by price year over year:

Source: MLS, Oliver Reports

Current inventory
This chart shows sales YTD, pending sales and current inventory. There are only 11 SFHs for sale in Salem under $500,000, while 69 have sold or are pending YTD.

Source: MLS, Oliver Reports

Comment
The big story in Salem is the continuing shrinking of both SFHs and Condos for sale with current inventory of both representing just 1 month’s supply. A market in considered to be in equilibrium between sellers and buyers when there is 6 months’ supply. The current market, therefore, is heavily weighted in favour of sellers and when that happens prices rise.