What will next year bring us? Will the New Year infant creep in colicky and fussy, or gooing and cooing, real-estate-wise?
I just finished reading predictions from many key players- some RE/MAX, some others- in the business. Most felt that 2008 was going to mirror 2007 for the most part. One of the most intelligent statement that I read was this- even if the market, meaning supply and demand, readjusts somewhat, there will still be the twin spectres of short-sale and bank-owned properties that need to be dealt with.
What does this mean if you are considering selling your home? In most of our region, it means you are not going to be able to "ride out the market" if you want to sell in 2008. It means you will have to pay close attention to you initial list price, look carefully at whatever else is listed around you, and make sure that your pricing is competitive, much as that hurts. It means that you will have to help your home make the best impression that it can, by cleaning, planting, de-cluttering and, likely, staging. It means that you should make sure your agent is proactive in marketing, and comfortable in using Internet sources.
It also means that if you bought your home a couple of years ago, you may get less for it now. If you remember the pressure that you felt to put in an offer that would be acceptable to the seller and think this environment still exists, you may have to readjust your expectations.
What does this mean for agents? For starters, it would be prudent to align yourself with an attorney who is experienced in short-sale procedures. Even if the listings that you take start out comfortably above short-sale level, it is possible that by the time you have finished price reductions, a seller may find that more is owed to the bank than will be cleared by the sale. It is better to find someone who specializes in this particular legal art now than to scramble, try to put everything together yourself or find help on the fly, and perhaps not give your seller the best advice possible.
2008. Homes WILL be sold, homes WILL be bought. Let's let them be ours!
Sales statistics for the year for Shirley, MA:
| December 2006 through November 2007 |
|---|
| Date | Sold | For Sale | Absorption Rate |
|---|
| Month | Year | Units | Median
Price | DOM | Units | Median
Price | DOM | Sale $ to List $ | Units Sold / Units For Sale |
|---|
| December | 2006 | 3 | $433,718 | 221 | 74 | $399,900 | 224 | 108.5% | 4.1% |
| January | 2007 | 3 | $270,000 | 103 | 75 | $395,000 | 218 | 68.4% | 4.0% |
| February | 2007 | 2 | $458,581 | 136 | 73 | $367,500 | 223 | 124.8% | 2.7% |
| March | 2007 | 7 | $448,000 | 161 | 71 | $374,900 | 221 | 119.5% | 9.9% |
| April | 2007 | 7 | $420,000 | 219 | 77 | $359,900 | 217 | 116.7% | 9.1% |
| May | 2007 | 3 | $396,500 | 173 | 75 | $359,900 | 206 | 110.2% | 4.0% |
| June | 2007 | 10 | $395,000 | 188 | 69 | $359,900 | 204 | 109.8% | 14.5% |
| July | 2007 | 3 | $415,000 | 73 | 79 | $386,120 | 186 | 107.5% | 3.8% |
| August | 2007 | 8 | $325,000 | 120 | 74 | $384,900 | 199 | 84.4% | 10.8% |
| September | 2007 | 4 | $434,985 | 120 | 65 | $384,900 | 206 | 113.0% | 6.2% |
| October | 2007 | 5 | $348,300 | 97 | 70 | $381,900 | 201 | 91.2% | 7.1% |
| November | 2007 | 4 | $450,547 | 75 | 66 | $389,900 | 206 | 115.6% | 6.1% |
| 12-Month Average: | 5 | | 141 | 72 | | 209 | | |
| 12-Month Median: | | $399,000 | | | $375,000 | | | |
| 12-Month Total: | 59 | | | 868 | | | 106.4% | 6.8% |
Note: in November, four houses were sold, while 66 were on the market.
Diane Guercio
;)
;)
