Supply and Demand Says It's Time to List Your House
The cold winter month's come and sellers believe that they should take their house off of the market or wait until spring to list it.
Why is this?
They believe that more buyers come out in the spring and that many buyers stop looking in the winter, therefore they believe that spring is the better time to sell.
They are right in absolute terms, but in relative terms they are not correct.
People do buy houses in the colder months. Yes, the number of buyers is fewer, perhaps at about 75% of the number of buyers who are looking during the rest of the year.
However, the number of sellers, for the aforementioned reasons, and maybe because they do not want to deal with selling a house when it is cold, decreases by more than the number of buyers.
What does this mean?
There are more buyers in the colder months relative to sellers.
The sellers can get more money for their homes when there are more buyers bidding on their homes.
Additionally, an important point, unrelated to supply and demand, is that buyers are more serious in the winter, then in the spring. A buyer does not come out in the cold unless there is a serious intent to purchase, while many spring buyers are "just looking".
Also, a speculative point about interest rates is that they will be increasing. Currently, interest rates are around 4% and they may increase to about 5% by the middle of next year. While 5% is not extremely high, what it basically means is about a 10% increase in one's mortgage payment, or alternatively, a stressor that keeps house prices from appreciating and possibly pushes prices down.
So, if you are thinking of selling your home, then it is urgent that you call me now.
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