Football practice, back-to-school nights, homework and more early morning traffic. It is that time again. Once the opening day of school looms near, the annual housing market slow down begins. Actually, a fellow Stanberry broker did the numbers and found that the seasonal slowdown actually started just after July 4th. The good news for sellers is that the while demand slows as school begins, so does the amount of competition. New listings drop off considerably.
On the other hand, buyers are more likely to find a deal. For the last several weeks, the number of new listings has been exceeded by the number of price reductions on existing listings.
So that begs the question, is the market slipping or did that many sellers over-price their properties? I would say it is the latter. In the spring and early summer, more than 50% of the new listings in the entire MLS sold in two weeks or less. Demand was red hot for competitively priced homes . . . over-priced, not so much.
For decades, I told my sellers that we needed to revisit the asking price if we did not sell in thirty days. That is no longer good advice. With the advances in online sales marketing and instant notification of new listings, we agents usually know within ten to fourteen days if the market has determined we are too high. Too many days on market hurts a property more than most sellers realize. I tell my sellers that the two questions my buyer clients ask first are, “How much is this house?” and “How long has this been on the market?” With the ability to receive near instant notification of new listings, and almost unlimited photos, buyers often know all there is to know in the first twenty four hours. Sellers have to realize this and act quickly if it appears they missed the market.
