Blue Skies Just in Time for Spring Season

Blue Skies Just in Time for Spring Season

We’re coming up on the most wonderful time of the year.  In addition to longer days, tax refunds, spring break, and for some… allergy season, is also the time for the bustling spring selling season. 

During the spring selling season, there is typically an influx of listing volume, and it’s also a time where a lot of buyers get off the fence and into the game.  What this means is a really active and busy time of the year for real estate agents and consumers.

In the spring, the weather gets warmer, the sun starts to make more frequent appearances, and flowers start to bloom.  People start to venture out of their homes and spend more time outdoor, and for some, this includes shopping for houses.  During this time houses start to look more appealing because the lawn is green again, flowers are blooming and the days are bright and sunny, and the school year is coming to an end, which leaves a perfect window of time for families with kids in school to move and get settled. 

Be Not Afraid

Apart from the start of a busy and productive spring season, there appears to be blue skies over the real estate market as well.  Fannie Mae did a National Housing Survey of 1,003 respondents, which provided some interesting and uplifting insight into how consumers feel about the current housing economy.  First, 23% said it was a good time to sell.  Now this may not seem like a huge number by any stretch, but that is a 12% increase from one year ago.  12%!  Now that’s exciting.  In addition, 41% said they expect home prices to go up, which is an 11% jump from one year ago.  So what does all of this mean? 

It means the rising home prices will help potential buyers to get into the game.  It appeals to their fear of loss - they don’t want to miss out good prices right now.  And sellers are coming out of the woodwork as well, in part because of the season, but also because of rising home prices; they want to strike while the iron is hot.

But most importantly, it tells us consumer confidence is growing.  Buyers and sellers are becoming less afraid of the housing market, and I don’t know about you, but that gets me excited.  Perception is reality, and I love this survey because it tells us how consumers are feeling about the real estate market; this rare and valuable insight gives agents a leg up – Now is the time to really start marketing yourself to your sphere.  Now is the time to stay front and center and be the one and only name that comes to a potential buyer or seller’s mind when their ready to pull the trigger. 

If you have an automated follow-up system, now is the time to start marketing to your sphere, or if you have a Market Leader system, you can leverage the easy, targeted marketing campaigns.  As a Market Leader trainer, I recently did a Power Hour class on selecting relevant campaigns specifically for this time of year.  Bottom line, now is the time where your window of opportunity is open; consumers are growing less afraid of real estate, and the springtime breeze is a good indicator that it’s time to start thinking about how to market yourself to stay top of mind.  What do you see happening in your market this spring?