Sellers: Where Have All the Offers Gone?

The current market has some sellers wondering where all the offers are.

Our local real estate market is changing. We see more inventory coming on the market every day, which is great for improving buyers’ range of options. Interest rates have been on the rise since the beginning of the year; combine that with appreciating house prices, and you’ll see why today’s buyers are more price-sensitive than they were in years past. That’s causing them to hesitate when it comes to making offers.

Today I’d like to share the two things in our market that help us keep on top of what’s going on so we can avoid falling prey to the negative hype in the media: 

1. New inventory and pending sales. We speak with fellow listing agents to gauge buyer activity and learn about new listings coming on the market soon. That gives us a heads-up about anything that may impact our sellers and upcoming opportunities for buyers. Pending sales help us gauge where the market is moving. As the days on market moved from just seven days to 21 days, we knew that our housing market was slowing down. Today, the average days on market is 42.

Don’t wait to see if there’s a reduction in the list price before you make an offer.

2. Our reliance on experts in the field. Our mortgage lenders give us insight into how money flows with refinancing new purchase loans and mortgage products. Inspectors let us know when they get booked up, which is a sure sign that more inventory is coming soon.

My advice for buyers: Don’t wait to see if there’s a reduction in the list price before you make an offer. Now is a great time to negotiate with the seller, though be prepared to write an offer with clean terms to reduce the sting of offering less than the list price.

For sellers, you need to be ready to price your home to sell. Let go of the mentality that you need to price your home low in order to generate the multiple-offer scenarios you likely heard about other sellers getting earlier this year. You only need one good offer that closes successfully.

If you’re thinking about buying or selling a home, give us a call or send us an email today. Let’s discuss your options.