2018 Summer Market Update
7/31/2018To say the least, 2018 has been an excellent year for real estate sales. The pace has been hectic! As homes come onto the market, showing appointments start. Soon they begin to overlap and before you know it, the listing agent is calling for “highest and best” offers. Six to eight offers per listing is not unusual. If the home is clean, updated and priced correctly, it will sell quickly. Buyers tend to primarily focus on condition, price and location. Homes that are overpriced, dated or have not been well maintained tend to languish on the market longer and generally achieve a lower sale price than the seller(s) anticipated.
Buyers are getting smarter about the whole home buying process and many are doing their research before engaging the market. They know what they want, where they want it and how much they are willing to pay for it. They understand that they’ll need a strong mortgage pre-approval letter and an agent with the experience and knowledge to prepare a strong offer and get that offer accepted (which is not easy in this market!)
Our inventory of saleable properties remains painfully low. After three remarkable years in sales, we just do not have enough homes available to meet with the demand. Prices have begun to stabilize in most areas which is, truthfully, a good thing. In the long run a stable market has much more endurance that an upward spiraling one. The old adage, “What goes up must come down” is a proven statement. Price stabilization will be better for continued market growth and limits the potential of a market correction or, Heaven forbid, crash.
The bottom line is that now is an excellent time to list and sell.