Who Is Selling?

Who is selling?

Over the last few years we’ve seen that most home sellers are the long-time owners, and that trend is continuing.

On the left are the years when the sellers purchased the home they sold between July 26 and August 3rd of this year:

The increasing trend of recent purchasers selling might just be from the additional years in the last category.  It was 2012-2015 when this graph began, and now it covers seven years – almost twice as many.

Are those sellers moving up or down?  Or cashing out?

The younger boomers:

1. Probably moved up a couple of times, not sitting on family homestead.
2. Are used to moving more.
3. Are more physically capable of moving.
4. Have a little less connection to the neighborhood.
5. Still have some adventure left in them.

But the younger boomers:

1. Are more likely to still be working.
2. Are more likely to still have kids at home.
3. Are more capable of modifying their home.
4. Don’t need assisted living.

With long-time owners providing the bulk of the inventory, we should expect older homes for sale that need fixing, or at least some updating. Yet the current trend is for buyers getting more picky, not less.

More stats: