Are We Approaching a Sellers Market?

Market Monday: Are we approaching a sellers market?

So are we really in a sellers market?
As real estate agents, we wish we had a crystal ball. (Coincidentally, Our clients do to!)
And sometimes, even though deep down inside they know better, sometimes expect that we do have one.
I wish I had one, as I would’ve purchased a lot of land over a decade ago!

Unfortunately, we don’t. But what we do have is data & market indicators that we can refer to that will help us get an idea of what the future may have in store for us.

I’ve been reading a lot over the weekend about how, in many areas, experts believe we are approaching a sellers market again.
Maybe so. Maybe not. I figured I would start watching for signs & start sharing the data with my web visitors.

Let’s check out the data & then I will give you my personal opinion down below:

Source: H3 (MLS Property Information Network) reports run 02/25/2013

Is the Data supporting a Sellers Market?

As you can see, this is a side-by-side comparison of one year of Sold stats (For Data in Acushnet, NB, Fairhaven, Dartmouth & Westport – Single & Multifamily ONLY).
Doesn’t really show a huge difference, but is it the start of something?

Through Feb 2012 we can see 1106 Properties Sold VS 1244 Properties Sold through Feb 2013
Average days on the market is holding steady at 147-148 DOM.
However, the average sales price has increased from $212,410 to $221,784

In my opinion, it’s not significant enough to start panicking, but it’s certainly something we should all watch out for.

In the SAME areas – as of the date of this post:

There are 667 Active Listings for Sale (Only 23 of these are REO/Bank Owned…. hmmmmm? and 79 of them are Short Sales)
There are 183 Properties Under Agreement.

In the past 6 months – there have been 575 Sales.
(59 of these sales were short sales, 62 of them were Bank Owned)

Want to Keep track of the sellers market with me?
I will try updating it often: Market Stats Spreadsheet

So if your currently in the market to BUY and have been waiting for things to get LOWER, then you may want to keep an eye out on the market data.
Have you possibly missed your chance to buy when the market hits rock bottom?
Again, we don’t have crystal balls, we can only keep buyers & investors informed with the data available to help make an informed guess on where we stand.

I’m not confident (and this is my own personal opinion) that these figures should be the only indicators we take into account.
Being an REO agent with a team of REO specialists since 2005, I’ve seen the foreclosure inventory dry up considerably. This is not because of lack of foreclosures, we know there are a slew of them still out there. But my question is, where exactly are they?  On almost a weekly basis, I get someone asking me about some random property that they notice is vacant (for years they say sometimes), overgrown lawns, boarded up windows.. you name it. Research then yields a foreclosure order in public records and all point towards foreclosure.. yet it takes years to finally see the property listed on the market as an REO.

I myself have noticed new REO assignments that have been foreclosed in 2010 (and listed in the year 2012). Why the wait? It’s a mystery for now. But this is why I’m not super confident that we’re approaching a sellers market just yet. I could be wrong… but with so many foreclosures waiting in the shadows – It’s likely going to eventually have a factor based on when they hit the market, how fast & at what rate.

I will try to update the site with market stats often, but feel free to contact any of our agents with any questions.

If your interested in looking at bank owned property, feel free to visit our REO website at BuyBankREO.com

Disclaimer: All material and information contained on this website deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. Some data may have been obtained from other sources considered to be reliable and all efforts have been made to provide accurate information. No warranty or representations made, expressed or implied, and is provided subject to errors, omissions and subject to change without notice. The opinions offered are the opinions of the agent only & are for informational purposes only, and are subject to change. Responsibility for the use of any & all information and data on this website is strictly and solely that of the user.