Real Estate Corner: Why Listing Now is Your Smart Move
Posted on July 21, 2020 by Laura Lucky
Have you been kicking around the idea of selling your property, but have been hesitant to do so, unsure of how the pandemic and economy are affecting the housing market? Let us explain why now is an excellent time to be in the position of a seller.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has been swirling around us, many homeowners have put their home-selling activities on hold. Perhaps they’re holding out to see how the world events shake out. Perhaps they assume that there aren’t many buyers that would possibly be buying in times such as these. Whatever the case, because so many home sellers have held back from listing their homes, there is a serious lack of housing inventory for buyers to choose from right now.
Recently the number of homes for sale has plummeted nationwide. The volume of inventory began declining back in May and housing inventory nationwide had dropped 27.4% year over year in June. Here in Metro Phoenix, the inventory dropped 40.2%, according to realtor.com.
“Our June data reinforces that buyers are out in force and serious about finding a home,” says Danielle Hale, realtor.com’s chief economist. “Although the new listings trend has improved, inventory continues to decline, indicating that what is coming onto the market is selling.”
Even better, buyers are buying. In a recent survey by Helitech, a foundation repair company, 37% of buyers said they’d “risk COVID-19 exposure to obtain my dream home.”
Most of the survey respondents said that while they’d prefer to see the home in person before buying, nearly 35% of those polled said they’d be willing to buy a home sight unseen. Clearly, the desires of buyers to obtain their next home hasn’t been hampered by recent events.
With the use of health and safety protocols, virtual tours, virtual open houses, virtual closings, and social distancing measures; home buyers and home sellers don’t necessarily need to put their health at risk to move forward with their plans.
Lastly, with mortgage rates continuing to plunge, more and more buyers are able to qualify to purchase your home. So, with supply low and demand high, follow the simple principles of Economics 101 to your home-selling success!
