Quick Market Update!

Posted on June 11th, 2020

Quick Market Update!

 

Wow, I cannot believe it is already June!  The sunshine makes this challenging time so much easier……my family has spent a lot of time outdoors paddle boarding, boating, and enjoying our amazing local parks.  Real estate has picked up substantially, so some of my “projects” are not quite done!

The real estate market has been very resilient.  With everyone spending more time than ever at home, where you live has never been so important.  Personally, I found a few flaws in my own home…….we never intended to work at home and be home schooling…..so when I a client calls and says they need more space I truly understand!  Mortgage rates remain near all-time lows which increases buying power.  This is definitely bringing out a lot of first time and “move up” buyers.

In the graph above you will see that it was slow for several weeks after the stay home order, but has been steadily increasing and getting closer to 2019 Spring volume.  I view the volume loss as a deferment of plans, and not sales activity lost.  Home prices are quite stable, with many stories of multiple offers.  Personally, I was involved with three multiple offer situations in the last two weeks.  One was a listing with three offers, and the other two were offers I presented for buyers.  There is a shortage of inventory which suggests to me that some sellers are waiting until the order lifts to put their home on the market which is understandable. Simple supply and demand is driving the multiple offers and we need more homes on the market to satisfy all the buyers.  We currently have about 1.4 months of inventory on the market, and anything less than 3 months is considered a seller advantage.  A normal market is 3-6 months of inventory.  In February we had about 1 month of inventory, so the shortage is not as severe as earlier this year.

The median price of homes sold in April was actually up slightly from a year ago.  You might be surprised to learn that 51% of homes sold for more than list price, and 81% of homes sold in 15 days or less.  Who would have predicted that during a pandemic?  Sellers are (for the most part!) pricing their homes realistically.  Buyers looking for a bargain are not really able to find them in our area.  Our local economy is strong with such an emphasis on high-paying tech workers who can easily work at home.  We expect the 3rd and 4th quarter to be quite strong as buyers and sellers who are sitting on the sidelines decide to make up for lost time.  Interest rates are expected to remain low for the rest of 2020.  While no one can truly predict the market, I am pleased to see how calm and stable our market has been thus far.

As always, please contact me if you have any questions, or just want to chat about real estate!

 

 

 

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