The National Association of Realtors (NAR) released the results of their latest Existing Home Sales Report which revealed that sales rose 0.7% month-over-month, but remain 1.5% lower than they were a year ago. Some may look at these numbers and think that now is not a good time to sell their house, but in fact, the opposite is true.
The national slowdown in sales is directly tied to a lack of inventory available for the buyers who are out in the market looking for their dream homes! The inventory of homes for sale has fallen year-over-year for the last 28 months and has had an upward impact on home prices.
NAR’s Chief Economist Lawrence Yun had this to say,
“Home sales in recent months remain at their lowest level of the year and are unable to break through, despite considerable buyer interest in most parts of the country.
Realtors® this fall continue to say the primary impediments stifling sales growth are the same as they have been all year: not enough listings – especially at the lower end of the market – and fast-rising prices that are straining the budgets of prospective buyers.” (emphasis added)
The houses that are on the market are selling fast, too! According to NAR’s Realtors Confidence Index, the median number of days it took for a house to go from listed to under contract over the past three months was 34.
Lets look at this in graph form:
In the time trend comparisons below, the first graph shows the inventory of active listings over the years (since 2008) in Lee County (single family homes)..The inventory has fallen DRASTICALLY over the years.
In the second graph, you can see that the average sale price of homes over the years is at a HIGH in Lee County. Even more reason TO SELL NOW!!
In the third graph, you can see that the median days between the listing date and the sales date is extremely low compared to previous years. YES, that means your home could sell in well UNDER 50 days!!!
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Bottom Line
If you are one of the many homeowners who is debating listing your house for sale this year, the time is now! Contact me today for a FREE market analysis of your property AND a FREE pre-listing inspection (mention this blog post).
Source: Keeping Current Matters