IT’S STILL A GREAT TIME TO SELL A HOME – JUST NOT AS GREAT AS THE RECENT “UNICORN YEARS,” WHICH ARE UNLIKELY TO RETURN ANYTIME SOON.

Buyer demand did not disappear when mortgage rates shot up.  Plenty of interested buyers remain out there home shopping.  It’s just that the housing market isn’t as frenzied as the unusual “unicorn years” – when:

1. Buyer demand skyrocketed,
2. Mortgage rates sank to historically lows, and
3. Home values rose wildly.

But that doesn’t mean the market is at a standstill.  Nationally, demand remains high compared to the last normal years in the housing market.  And plenty of buyers are making moves right now. Here’s the data to prove it.                                   

Showing Traffic, which measures buyer activity, is up!  See the graph below from Keeping Current Matters (KCM):

In the graph, the unicorn years appear in pink.  Demand has dipped some since then, in response to higher mortgage rates.  However, when you compare 2023 to the blue bars on the left, which represent the market’s last normal years, you can see that buyers were still more active than the norm.

SELLERS ARE STILL SEEING MULTIPLE OFFERS

“Showing Traffic” is not the only way to see that buyer demand is high.  The number of offers that sellers are getting, as well as the average days that homes remain on the market tell a similar same story.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), sellers are receiving an average of 2.5 offers on a house.  See how that compares to recent years, by viewing the KCM graph below:

HOMES PRICED RIGHT SELL FAST

Sellers are also seeing their homes sell fast. That’s a direct result of strong buyer demand, due principally to scant inventory. 

As the graph shows, this year homes are sitting on the market only slightly longer than they were during the frenzy of the ‘unicorn’ years. And compared to the last normal years in the market, homes are still selling much faster than they did back then. That’s good news for sellers because it means eager buyers remain out there right now.

BOTTOM LINE

You haven’t missed your chance to sell.  It’s still a time when sellers are receiving multiple offers, and homes are selling fast. Your challenge remains: Where do you want to move to, and can you find your right next home/lifestyle? 

Beth Davis and I, Steve Feldman, remain happy to strategize with you.