on March 19, 2024
Cash in Now: Why Today’s Seller’s Market Spells Success
Contemplating putting your house on the market? Wondering if the timing is right? Brace yourself for some eye-opening insights. Despite a growing inventory of homes in recent months, we’re still firmly entrenched in a seller’s market. It’s a scenario in which demand still outweighs supply, leaving eager buyers shopping with only a limited pool of homes to choose from. Curious for a closer look at why now might just be the perfect time to make your move?
To keep it simple, let’s first look at the different market types:
- A neutral market is when supply and demand is balanced. Basically, there are enough homes to meet buyer demand based on the current sales pace, and home prices hold fairly steady. (6-7 months of inventory)
- A buyer’s market is when there are more homes for sale than there are buyers. When this happens, buyers have more negotiation power because sellers are willing to make compromises to close the deal. In a buyer’s market, sellers may have to do price cuts to re-ignite interest in their home, and prices may go down. We haven’t seen this for years since there have been so few homes available to buy. (>8 months of inventory)
- In a seller’s market, it’s just the opposite. When the supply of homes for sale is as low as it is right now, it’s much harder for buyers to find homes to purchase. That creates increased competition among purchasers which can allow you to list your home on the higher side of comparables. The lower reserves there are of homes for sale, the more we see multiple offers. In these cases, buyers do their best to submit a very attractive offer upfront. This can drive the final sale price of your house up above even listing price. (<6 months of inventory)
Looking at the graph below, which uses data from the National Association of Realtors, you can see just how deep into the seller’s market territory we still are today, across the nation: As noted by the dashed line, the US right now has about 3 months of housing inventory.
Bringing it to a Local Level:
If you bring it in even closer, meaning locally, you can see here in Yamhill county, though we have seen an increase in inventory over the winter we are still well under the 6 months of inventory that would take us out of a sellers market.
What Does This Mean for You?
The market is still working in favor of sellers. By leaning on an agent for advice on how to get your house list ready and how to price it competitively, you can get onto the market where there are eager buyers waiting to see your home. In fact, as rates have begun their slow decent, we have seen homes beginning to go pending much faster than the end of 2023. As just one example, here in McMinnville, I have seen 4 homes go pending in less than a week and it’s only 2 weeks into the March. Should the rates continue to drop as expected, more buyers will come back into the market. This easily leading to the return of multiple offers. The result, you seeing your house sell quickly and for top dollar. A recent article from Ramsey Solutions explains the same:
“A seller’s market is when demand for homes is higher than the supply of homes. And that’s still the case right now. If you’re planning to sell your house, you can expect to sell it fairly quickly for close to your asking price—as long as your asking price is realistic for the current market.”
Bottom Line
Today’s housing market is still favoring the sellers. If you’re ready to sell your house, reach out for a free coffee appt. We can talk about what the process looks like for you here in our local market. This will allow you to make a fully informed decision on if the time is right for you to take the next step. (And if you are ready for the next step, you can click HERE to read my article about how to prepare your home for sale, or click HERE to instead, watch the video.)