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You’re saying “Come on Bob, really!?!”. Stick with me for a minute…
What is a sellers market?
The short answer is when there is more buyer demand than available inventory. Technically it’s when there is 5 months or less of housing inventory for sale. Over 6 months of inventory is a buyers market, you have what is called market equilibrium (balanced market) between 5 and 6 months of inventory.
This can vary by price point or exist across all price ranges. It’s instructional to look at it for all prices but if you’re a seller with a home for sale in Alpharetta in the $300′s then looking in the $300k – $400k range or the $275k – $325k range may be more meaningful.
Inventory By Price Range
What Does It Mean
The numbers above reflect that it is, very much, a seller market under $500k in Alpharetta. If you have a home for sale in Alpharetta in good condition, priced well, you should not have a problem getting an offer or selling in a very reasonable amount of time. It actually IS a seller market.
That is very different for those with a home for sale at or above $700k. There is still a lot of inventory on the market and sales over the past 12 months have been much slower. In higher price ranges it is very much a buyers market.
What The Future Holds
What you see above in the chart has occurred over the past 12 months but we’ve crossed a threshold. REO agents are carrying far, far fewer foreclosures than they have in years. Hedge Funds are buying up distressed sales on the courthouse steps preventing most of the REO inventory from hitting the open market and banks have significantly increased their short sales (which sell for more on average than foreclosures).
Relocation business is up with more companies moving employees around the country and first-time home buyers are becoming a big part of the new home sales occurring in both North Fulton and Forsyth County.
Because of all this, expect to see further and faster improvement in the $500k – $$800k range in the spring. By this time next year this price range will be in the sellers market range with the higher price ranges approaching the balanced market we are seeing now in the $600k – $700k range.
Those that have been timing the market, thinking that there is more distress to come, are wrong. Need help evaluating your specific market conditions? Contact Us and we’ll talk market strategy.
[...] of single family home neighborhoods again. Realtor Bob Strader declared on his blog last week that we’re in a seller’s market! People can’t sell homes in [...]
[...] housing market has many signs of improvement. With lower inventories, certain price points are in a sellers market, we see a returning robust new home construction market and sales prices are stabilizing in some [...]