Pending Sales to New Listings Ratio

In our unending search for silver linings in this market, we Realtors search high and low. I've been plotting the number of pending sales to new listings for some time now. As you can imagine this ratio got pretty low as the market changed as hopeful sellers jumped into the market at the time buyers decided we were too pricey.

There are a few explanations for the trend represented in the chart to the right. In my opinion, this evidences a gradual acceptance of reality by sellers, that only those properties that NEED to be sold are coming on the market and that those properties are more realistically priced and attracting buyers. Clearly we want to see this ratio continue to increase as a sign of the return of a healthier real estate market. I'll keep you posted.