Here’s what those considering selling in a year or two need to know now.
Today I’m sharing a real estate market update and how possible changes may affect homeowners. At the end of January, we had 956 homes for sale in all five counties combined, which is 61.6% less than what we had a year ago. Inventory has continued to decrease almost daily; on the day of this recording, we had just 701 houses available. The inventory shortage is only getting worse, and we don’t know when it’ll begin to improve.
If you’re considering selling in the next year or two there are a couple of things you should know. First, we’re currently in the pre-spring market, and we expect more properties to be listed between April and June. That means now may be a great time to list because soon you’ll face more competition. Second, due to the intense demand, we’ve sold almost as many homes as we sold a year ago. The high demand is still there, even though there aren’t enough houses to sell.
“Inventory has continued to decrease almost daily.”
Finally, we have about five months of inventory in forbearance. According to the National Association of Realtors, a balanced market between buyers and sellers is six months of inventory, and that’s our typical market. People in forbearance haven’t been able to pay their mortgages, so they’ve made arrangements with their mortgage company or bank to delay their payments. However, what happens if those people don’t get their jobs back or are still suffering from economic hardship and their forbearance runs out?
If they can no longer afford their properties, some of them might go into foreclosure. Those foreclosures will flood the market, likely be priced low because the bank just wants to recoup their loss, and that will affect the prices of all homes in the area.
If you’re thinking about selling in the next couple of years and want to explore your options, let’s talk. Give me a call or send an email, and we can discuss what your best strategy may be. If you have any questions or think of a topic you’d like me to discuss on this blog, just let me know. I would love to help you.
