The biggest story in real estate hasn’t changed much over the past few months. Inventory of homes for sale remains low, while demand remains high. It doesn’t appear this tale is set for a plot twist anytime soon either. According to several recent blog posts since the turn of the year from Keeping Current Matters (KCM), now is the time to sell!
Why? We already mentioned the top two reasons, and this KCM post from February 10th titled, “Want Top Dollar for Your House? Now’s the Time To List It,” gives you all the details regarding why they are still the top two reasons. Hint: High Demand, Low Inventory and the industry is still seeing record home sales!
These are not the only two reasons to factor in if you are considering selling. A post from January 18th of this year titled, “Sellers: Don’t Wait Until Spring To Make Your Move,” the KCM crew points out that home owners are sitting on record amounts of equity. They site a recent report by CoreLogic that noted in the past 12 months the average homeowner has gained $56,700 in equity. With this much equity alone, you may be able to cover the down payment if you are considering buying a new home.
Another factor is mortgage rates which are set to rise in 2022. This reason is pushing more buyers into the market sooner, but can also affect sellers who are planning to move up or downsize. A January 19th KCM story titled, “With Mortgage Rates Climbing, Now’s the Time To Act,” highlights this point. The post looks at projections from Freddie Mac which suggests rates will rise by 0.1 percent per quarter. This would bring us from 3.4 percent in Q1 to 3.7 percent in Q4 of this year. Even though this may seem like a small increase, even small increases add to your overall payment.
Finally, one other point we came across when perusing KCM’s recent posts. New construction will be a home sellers’ greatest competition this spring. Now we know new homes have their appeal, as do existing homes. So, why will this be a concern this year over others? The post titled, “Why Waiting To Sell Your House Could Cost You a Small Fortune,” notes that over 979,000 new single-family units were approved for building permits in 2020, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, these homes are yet to be built due to labor and materials shortages.
Yes, this is a lot to take in but you’ll want to weigh all these factors to determine what makes the most sense for your home sale. Is now the time to list your home? One step that can help you determine this is understanding the local real estate market in your area and your home’s value in that market. A local realtor can provide this information as well as other insight to help with your next move.
