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Tag: seller’s market

Castles in the Sand

Real estate markets upturned

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

The old rules governing a buyer’s and a seller’s market have been seriously adjusted in the time of COVID-19. Areas of the country where they never dreamed of running out of inventory and integrating buyers from major cities are still trying to figure it out while at the same time welcoming their good luck.

Realtor.com, after interviewing over 50 real estate agents in specific markets, has come up with the 10 top buying and selling markets nationwide. This analysis reflected closed sales for upper-end homes at $1 million or over.

A buyer’s market is something that we’re not remotely in right now in the Tampa Bay area, but since you never know when markets will turn, let’s establish some guidelines. The definition of a buyer’s market simply is one with more supply than demand. Santa Barbara County, California was at the top of the buyer’s market list with Santa Cruz County, California coming in at number 10. Florida had two counties on the list, Pinellas at number two and Collier at number four. Remember we’re talking about sales at $1 million or over.

A seller’s market is, of course, the opposite of a buyer’s market, defined as a market that has more demand than supply, with low levels of inventory and appreciating sales prices. Fairfax County, Virginia is at the top of the seller’s market analysis with Suffolk County, New York at the bottom. Florida has two counties on the top 10 list, Hillsborough County (Tampa) at number six and Broward County (Ft. Lauderdale) at number seven. Seller’s markets in this COVID cycle are typically suburban areas close to big employment centers that offer larger homes, property with office space and new construction.

Manatee County is certainly in a seller’s market, so potential buyers need to be cautious not to get in a bidding war and consider making an offer with an escalation addendum. Also eliminating all home sale contingencies like a mortgage will certainly put you in an advantageous position.

Now it’s time to review the October Manatee County sales statistics, reported by the Realtor Association of Sarasota and Manatee, to determine if October’s numbers are as good as September’s were.

Single-family sales numbers compared to October of last year are as follows: Closed sales, up 48.4%; median sale price, $360,000, up 10.4%; average sale price, $481,349, up 20.7%; median time to contract, 18 days, down 58.1%; month’s supply of available properties, 1.8 months, down 45.5%; pending inventory, up 44.5% and cash transactions, up 53.6%.

Condo sales numbers compared to October of last year are as follows: Closed sales, up 39%; median sale price, $255,000, up 34.2%; average sale price, $294,595, up 13.2%; median time to contract, 41 days, up 8.9%; month’s supply of available properties, 2.6 months, down 36.6%; pending inventory, up 71.9% and cash transactions, up 10%.

Not only were the October numbers as good as September, they surpassed them in almost every area. The market is indeed soaring in both Manatee and Sarasota counties, and where this merry-go-round stops, I don’t think anyone knows, certainly not me.

The old adage, “All real estate is local,” has been a little upended this year. However, the principals are the same and we’ll eventually fall back into a normal market. Have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Castles in the Sand

Seller’s market?

Written by Louise Bolger on . Posted in Business, Castles in the Sand.

We’re in a seller’s market, words that every homeowner wants to hear. But even a seller’s market needs to be handled with care and respected; it can turn on a dime on so many factors, quickly depleting your pot of gold.

A seller’s market is defined as a real estate market that has more demand than supply, and that’s certainly true all over Manatee County. As of January, there was only 3.4 month’s supply of single-family properties for sale in Manatee County – a six-month supply of available properties is generally considered a healthy real estate market. Also, to be considered a seller’s market, sales prices grow above 4% a year. As of January, single-family homes in Manatee County grew 6.6% over January of last year.

So, what’s the best way to sell your property in a seller’s market? It’s recommended that in a good seller’s market a property can be priced about 5% higher than comparable properties. But since we all know that a homeowner’s perception of a comparable property may not be what buyers see relative to condition and location, you must be careful in pricing above the market and treat it as an experiment that may not work and may need to be quickly adjusted.

Here in Manatee County, we are seeing a lot of new construction competing with resales. We’re living in a funny world where, unlike previous generations, buyers don’t want to take on projects and may pay a premium for new construction but not your home. Do whatever you can to remove objections to your property including some renovations that may not get you all your money back but could sell your property a lot faster. Emphasize features in your home that new construction may not ever have including water views and mature landscaping.

If you’re selling an empty property, consider staging or at the very least virtually staging which will provide photos online showing how the home looks with furniture. This may not beat new construction decorator models, but it will give you an edge with other resales.

Nationally and locally, sale prices are picking up as inventory stays tight. The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index, which measures average home prices in major metropolitan areas across the nation, reported that for November there was a 3.5% increase over a 12-month period. The growth continues in their analysis in December with the average home prices going up 3.8% during the previous 12-month period.

The housing market has been expected to be boosted by mortgage rates being at their lowest level in half a century. However, although sale prices are going up, sales numbers are going down. Inventory is limited and buyers are not moving forward because they can’t find what they want and/or the price points are too high. According to the National Association of Realtors, the housing inventory level was the lowest for January since 1999. Existing home sales fell 1.3% in January compared with December according to the National Association of Realtors.

Until this market gets into a more normal area, we’re stuck with a seller’s market, not always a good thing. So, no matter how low the inventory goes, buyers aren’t fools and won’t pay way above market value just because they don’t have a lot to choose from. They’ll sit out the market, continue living with mom and dad or rent.

Don’t you be a fool and take the market for granted. Protect your pot of gold – it may not always be there.