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In my area I'm seeing inventory increase. But this is actually driving prices WAY up. The home that sold in 5 days for 435K is just like the one that went on the market for 445K, that sold immediately. The next, comparable home, goes on the market at 475, and sits for a couple of weeks, and sells at 465. So each new house that comes up drives the price up, and the glut of buyers outnumbers the homes. Some people peel off, but those who stay know they have to act fast.
Prices are WAY up in my suburb. 20% from last year.
First, is the buyer a first time buyer or have they done this before? If they are a first time buyer, DON'T tell them about how good the old days were and how you can't even take a breath before a home sells nowadays. That kind of talk will just make a buyer miserable. There is no point in dwelling on how much time people 'used to have' to make decisions vs. now. To a new buyer, it's irrelevant, because their first experience is happening right now. I've had some agents tell me about the 'good old days' when you had 6 months as your average listing time and could 'take all the time in the world to decide'. Why dwell on the past? Let's dwell in the now and be positive!
Secondly, don't mislead them about how 'little time' they have. The average home is available for about 30 days in my market currently. So telling them they need to make a decision today or tomorrow is simply plain false. Odds are, it will still be around today or tomorrow.
Telling a buyer the number of homes on the market, the average number of days a property sits on the market, the average price for a 1 BR, all of these things are fine. Statistical data is good. However, most of us buyers already know how "crazy" the housing market is, so words like that don't need to be used. We need to stop painting real estate with a dark brush. Us buyers already watch the news, we read the news, and we see the prices when we logon to sites like Zillow. Continually telling a first time buyer how tough of a battle they have ahead of them is like telling someone over and over again that the 'test is going to be hard' while they are taking the test. Say it once and just let them take it.
If a realtor is telling the buyer this to protect their time and the buyer's time, then that is something different but they should state that clearly upfront. And again, just say it once.
I just checked and exactly 20% of all sold condos in my market since Jan. 1 this year sold in 7 days or less.
Dear Real Estate professionals,
I'm a buyer who is currently trying to find a trustworthy agent so that I can get a starter-home. What I seem to be hearing over and over again is "inventory is very low right now", "there's not much out there in your price range", and "you're going to have to move quickly". It's very frustrating and discouraging to hear. Don't realtors realize that us buyers already know this stuff and these words of negativity that they bring are only going to discourage us from buying further? I am not sure if this is some neg-hit attempt to get me to hurry up and sign with them to buy a home or if they are just trying to shoe me away because I'm unable to feed their wallet by buying a McMansion out in the affluent burbs. Which is it?
Have you been told 2x in 2 weeks to "raise" your budget, even though on SEVERAL different occassions, we have made it known we are NOT doing this. Like that's all you got?
Have you been told 2x in 2 weeks to "raise" your budget, even though on SEVERAL different occassions, we have made it known we are NOT doing this. Like that's all you got?
That's fine if there is a nice selection of houses in that price range. If you want a better house than you have money to pay for, then you must either raise the budget, or buy less house than you want.
So, inventory is increasing. Up 1.5% in a few days.
Same thing's happening in my neck of the woods. Inventory has started to go back up a little bit both where I'm selling and where I'm buying. My guess it's because people who have been holding onto properties have decided to jump in.
I talked with a friend in one of those retirement villages in Arkansas today. He had an interesting perspective on the low inventory trend.
For years he's been worried that the baby boomers wouldn't buy in retirement villages because that's "where my parents retired" and "they're not cool."
That becomes a real problem as current owners die and their kids can't sell the properties.
But when prices go sky high and inventory is low, "being cool" goes out the window. He thinks plenty of baby boomers will rethink moving to the retirement villages after all. They're affordable, and a lot of them are actually pretty nice (and the smart ones are updating to have amenities that appeal to the next generation). Shuffle board and Sinatra-style concerts are out, kayaking and rock concerts are in.
And, as baby boomer start to consider these places, there will be less of them competing with the Millenials for the low inventory (which just might ease things up a bit for everyone).
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Piney Creek
Same thing's happening in my neck of the woods. Inventory has started to go back up a little bit both where I'm selling and where I'm buying. My guess it's because people who have been holding onto properties have decided to jump in.
It's most likely the seasonal increase, as we get close to the end of the school year. In our case, it's mostly people moving up to a larger home, and they are still selling within a few days with multiple offers.
The increase is not affecting demand or prices at all. A fairly small 30 year old (1,650 sf) 3/2 down the street was listed last week for $675, with an open house this weekend. I expect to see a sold sign on it by tomorrow.
An agent just left my office, she needed the broker's help on how to handle a client who wanted to make an offer on a house that already had 6 offers, 4 of which had escalation clauses, so that the client had ANY chance of actually being considered. First day on the market for the listing.
You know, I've been saying for a while now that this will continue as long as there isn't enough inventory. But I'm starting to wonder. I think at some point soon (in the next few years), in my area at least, prices will raise to the point that most buyers are priced out of buying a house, which will lower demand, and level out the prices.
I don't think the market will crash, because those people CAN afford to sell, since they bought the house for much less, but I think it may cause a "pause" in the increasing prices until wages catch up a bit.
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