TIMING THE MARKET
Trying To Time The Market?
Happy Holidays. Even though the world might be in flux, we have so much to be thankful for. Try to keep things in perspective because we are truly to be blessed to live in such a vibrant housing community!
Residential real estate is always on the top of mind of homeowners. We have curiosity about how other homes in the neighborhood sold and for how much. But when the time comes to consider selling our own home, we pay more attention to how much our neighbor’s house sold for and how long it was on the market. We pay close attention to mortgage interest rates and the overall state of both the real estate market and the economy.
Naturally, we all want to know how much our neighbor’s house sold for, why that house down the street sold in one day versus the one to the other side that took six months, and how many offers they each had. As with the sale of any home, tried and true market forces all come into play. We never know how interiors compare, which can make a lot of difference in a home’s value, how the house smells, as well as many other subjective factors that affect a home’s value. That is why if you had ten different appraisers evaluating the same house, you would get ten different values.
The value of your home is what someone is willing to pay at that moment in time.
In the past, many buyers valued a home by price per square foot since it’s an easy calculation, although still subjective at times. Other times it’s location and condition that drive the price. In a balanced market, the combination of all of these factors determines value.
In our current market, in most circumstances, value is being determined by scarcity. In a low inventory market, like we are currently in, values are somewhat artificially high. That’s great if you are selling, but not if you are also buying.
The market is starting to shift. Inventories are slowly starting to creep back. Slowly, is the operative word here. We are still, and will continue to be, way below normal housing inventory, but I think the exuberant frenzy will slow to just a “tempered” frenzy.
Historically, there is a season of selling. There is a spring market and a “get in before school starts market.” Like many other things, Covid messed up traditional markets.
Here’s an example using the 43082 zip code area in 2021, here are the number of home sales:
January - 16
February - 11
March - 29
April - 35
May - 42
June - 56
July - 55
August - 35
September - projects out to 47
No big peaks or valleys here. Interestingly, overall this year, homes sold for over 103% of the last listed price, which is a sign of low inventory. The months that homes sold for more than 105% of the last listed price… April, May and June…the traditional selling months.
In conclusion, 2021 home sales were steady in just about any month in the Columbus area. The numbers show that sellers got the most for their money if they sold in April, May and June, in case you are planning ahead for 2022 (if so, call me now to prepare).
