In a normal market a good percentage of the properties for sale are tough sells. A rule of thumb I’ve had is that 50% of what’s on the market is crap. However, there is a buyer for everything. You have to look at what percentage or portion of the market is competitive.
If you have a good property, and it’s priced right it will sell.
We missed out on a beauty this weekend. We were just a little too late making our decision and someone else snapped it up.
Around the beginning of October we posted that we saw a definite up tick in activity. I could say the same for the last two weeks. It may be very likely that November and December maybe the best time to buy that this market has ever seen.
I have to chuckle a little bit when I hear people look at the market from a simple inventory perspective. Especially if inventory continues to fall off in the new year and sales pick up from January to May as they have done for as long as I can remember. At least the last 10 years but I’d have to check the stats to be positive.
One thing about the current market that is for certain is that completed deals are definitely taking a lot longer to put together, due to the number of conditions that are loaded into most offers. In many cases it takes multiple swings at the proverbial cat to have a successful transaction.
In a market that is supposed to have no buyers, having a number of buyers interested in certain properties is a sign that certain properties have broad appeal. What makes them appealing to more than one buyer? It tends to be that they stack up better against the competition – buyers looking in a similar price range and area are often likely to choose the same house as the best house, if that house clearly stands out against the competition.
As for new home construction… There is no way to tell for certain because many builders don’t have all their properties on the MLS, but I know for a fact that a number of builders have inched up their sales on MLS and off.
All in all It looks like many people who waited to see what would happen after the peak are starting to trickle back in, so it could be very interesting over the next few months. If inventory drops and buying activity continues to grow again, its very likely the price slide will slow or reverse.
On the other hand, if the trend of the past 10 years is not in the cards and sales are slower in the spring, and higher inventory is in the cards, we’ll see the trend of the last few months continue.
One thing is for certain, this will be hotly debated one way or another.
