What happened to the Spring real estate market in Riverside, RI?

What happened to the Spring real estate market in Riverside, RI?

 What happened to the Spring real estate market in Riverside, RI?

It hasn't shown up yet. Last year at this time there were For Sale signs popping up like daffodils all over my neighborhood. Every time I drove around Riverside new signs were appearing weekly. 

Now I know last years winter wasn't really a winter at all. We had balmy weather into January. The market was sluggish to say the least last year, but houses were going up for sale in February & March.

This year 2013 not so much. Our inventory has been extremely low since the end of the summer 2012. We are in a drought it seems. I've spoken to numerous Realtors in different parts of the state, and they all agree...Where's the Spring market?

Realtors have attributed the "drought" to the fact that we had a "bad Winter". It wasn't really bad, but it was a true Winter. Even our Spring weather hasn't appeared...yet (though it is very nice today). Mother Nature seems to be quite peeved with us for some reason. Seller's haven't had the opportunity to get their house ready to sell due to the weather, one Realtor said.

According to the February 2013 housing report: "While median price rose 12 percent, sales activity seems to be slowing, rising just two percent last month from February, 2012. Sales under contract but not yet closed, considered by many to the most current market indicator, were down one percent. The supply of homes for sale dropped 18 percent from the prior year, a contributing factor in the slowdown in sales activity, according to statistics released by the Rhode Island Association of Realtors."

The RI real estate market has definately turned the corner. Housing prices are creeping up, while interest rates are staying very low. Those people that bought last year, bought at the bottom. Buyers are out searching for houses and there's not much to offer. As of today there are 70 houses on the market in Riverside, RI.  There are still some distressed homes which investors are scooping up after just being on the market for hours!

We have less than 4 months of inventory in Riverside. It's the beginning of a sellers market...if we could just get the seller's to realize it.

It's time for those seller's to open the doors and windows and let the Springtime in. Get out there and primp those garden beds, touch up that peeling trim and sweep away the last bit of Winter.

Here's hoping that seller's will come to see that now is a GREAT time to be on the market.