Friday, March 10, 2023

Multiple offers are not gone!

Although the market is a little less wild and crazy than it was 18 months ago, the multiple offer scenarios are not gone. Houses priced at or below the median and reasonably priced are in fact seeing multiple offers and bidding up. I just called an agent about a pending property I am using as a comp for another property. She had it listed at a very competitive price and I was curious about the offers. She had seven offers and several were well above asking. 

The median price has ticked down over the last several months, but I have mentioned this multiple times, and I'll do it again now, higher end properties are not selling as much as they were last year. More sales right ow are happening in the entry level market. That is lowering the median price despite the fact that actual prices are still rising, just at a slower pace that we have seen in recent years. 

2023 is shaping up to be a decent market. Inventory is tight and there are not enough sellers to go around, so buyers will remain in the hot seat for the time being. Sellers should remain cautiously optimistic and buyers should be very optimistic as things have at least calmed down a bit.

I have seen this pattern many times before. Right now is a great time for a buyer to make a move up. If you have a 3 bed 2 bath home priced around the median of $500,000 or less, you will sell fast and for top dollar. Then make the move up to a larger more expensive house where the market is not quite as crazy. Sellers int he mid-tier are more likely to work with a contingent buyer.

Don't worry about rates, if they go down later you can refinance if they go up later you stay put. Some buyers a parked in a loan with a low rate say less than 4% if you are one of these buyers, are you prepared to stay in that same house for the rest of your life? You have to ask yourself that question, because the 3's we saw were ALL TIME LOWS, we may never see that again. What we could see however is even higher rates later on and that could force you to stay in that same house. These 6.5%-7.5% rates are pretty "normal" when you look at the 50 year average.

If you are ready to make that move up, then now is the time.  

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