Reserve our moving trailer! Check Availability
Blog
Hurry Up!! Call your Agent and List your House!!
That headline might be a little aggressive. However, as the data on the 2015 housing market begins to roll in, we can definitely say one thing: If you are considering selling, IT IS TIME TO LIST YOUR HOME!
We realize that existing home sales stumbled ...
Read more
Housing Market to “Spring Forward”
Just like our clocks this weekend in the majority of the country, the housing market will soon “spring forward”! Similar to tension in a spring, the lack of inventory available for sale in the market right now is what is holding back the market.
Many potential sellers believe that waiting until Spring is in their best interest, and traditionally they would have been right.
Buyer demand has seasonality to it, which usually falls off in the winter months, especially in areas of the country impacted by arctic temperatures and conditions.
That hasn’t happened this year.
Demand for housing has remained strong and is currently three times stronger than last year at this time. The National Association of REALTORS (NAR) recently reported that the top 10 dates sellers listed their homes in 2014 all fell in April, May or June. Those who act quickly and list now could benefit greatly from additional exposure to buyers prior to a flood of more competition coming to market in the next few months.Bottom Line
If you are planning on selling your home in 2015, meet with a local real estate professional to evaluate the opportunities in your market.New Construction = New Competition
For the last several years, home sellers had to compete with huge inventories of distressed properties (foreclosures and short sales). The great news is that the supply of these properties is falling like a rock in the vast majority of housing markets (only 11% of homes sold in January). Many homeowners are now thinking of selling as the impact of this substantially discounted competition has disappeared.
However, every seller of an existing residential property must realize that there is a new form of competition in the market: newly constructed homes.
According to the National Association of Realtors’ Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers new home sales accounted for 16% of all homes sold in 2014. The graph below shows the top 5 reasons that a buyer would choose new construction over an existing home.
The top three should not come by surprise. With a new home comes the ability to customize the design of the home and the ability to avoid having to renovate or deal with existing problems.
The 10% of respondents who cited “Lack of Inventory of Existing Homes” could very well increase in 2015. Existing home inventory for sale currently sits at a 4.7 months supply, well below the six-months needed to be at a historically normal market.
National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) reports that there is currently a 5.4 months supply inventory of new construction available for purchase.
Bottom Line
With a steady buyer demand currently in the market, if you are thinking of selling, perhaps you should do it now to avoid additional competition coming to the market.Selling Your Home? The Importance of Using an Agent
When a homeowner decides to sell their house, they obviously want the best possible price with the least amount of hassles. However, for the vast majority of sellers, the most important result is to actually get the home sold.
In order to accomplish all three goals, a seller should realize the importance of using a real estate professional. We realize that technology has changed the purchaser’s behavior during the home buying process. For the past two years, 92% of all buyers have used the internet in their home search according to the National Association of Realtors’ most recent Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers.
However, the report also revealed that for the second year in a row 96% percent of buyers that used the internet when searching for a home purchased their home through either a real estate agent/broker or from a builder or builder’s agent. Only 2% purchased their home directly from a seller whom the buyer didn’t know.
Buyers search for a home online but then depend on an agent to find the actual home they will buy (53%) or negotiate the terms of the sale & price (31%) or understand the process (63%).
Stephen Phillips, the Chief Operating Officer for HSF Affiliates LLC, put it best:
“Home buyers are more informed than ever with their Internet searches and ongoing research; however, there’s a critical need to transform that information into analysis and advice that helps consumers make the best home-buying and selling decisions.”The plethora of information now available has resulted in an increase in the percentage of buyers that reach out to real estate professionals to “connect the dots”. This is obvious as the percentage of overall buyers who used an agent to buy their home has steadily increased from 69% in 2001.