In the video below, the economist reiterates that the inventory is so low that there aren’t any houses to buy – that the ‘shelves are bare’.
It is the view of the casual bystander.
This is the new normal – a market for serious participants only.
Buyers have to be grinding day in and day out, and be willing to kiss a few frogs before finding the right house. Sellers have to be sharp on price, and smartly tune up the house prior to listing in order to make a good first impression.
The confluence of those two groups make for a very active marketplace. We’ve already closed more NSDCC sales this year than last year, and the 2015 total will easily end up well over 3,000 sales:
| Year | ||
| 2011 | ||
| 2012 | ||
| 2013 | ||
| 2014 | ||
| 2015 |
Why does it appear that there is no inventory? Because sales are happening at a rapid pace – 38% of the NSDCC houses sold this year found a buyer in the first two weeks.
An example: A new listing hit the market at the end of last week, and our ready, willing, and able buyer with a 20% down payment made an offer. By Monday the listing agent had received four offers – two were all-cash, and one of those was over list price!
During the week of Christmas!!
The potential buyers who only check in occasionally will miss the hot buys – they don’t have their chops up enough to recognize them, and instead just see the over-priced turkeys that have been picked over by everyone else. Casual seller-candidates will see the same, and think adding the extra 10% is a good idea – just in case.
Get Good Help!
I wonder how big a factor pocket listings are now. Brokers I’ve talked to say they’re really busy. I asked how that can be with nothing for sale. The Answer: Sellers often have a price in mind (they can research the internet as well as Buyers). If the Broker tells them “I have a buyer at that price,” they won’t even bother to list. They’ll take the money. Zero time on market. No inventory listing to be tallied by would-be market analysts.
Good point. I suspect if you drill down on the days on market and use median vs average, you’ll prove your point even further. My guess is that 1/3 of the sales would be 5 DOM or less and that 1/2 would be 20 DOM or less.
Around here it is a badge of honor to input your pocket listings onto the MLS, and mark them ‘sold before processing’. So they get into my counts of sold listings.
The last count I did was 5 out of the last 125 sales, or 4%.