Is Now the Best Time to Sell a Home?

Is Now the Best Time to Sell a Home?

By: Atwaul Bennett

The easiest way to answer that question is to look at supply and demand. According to NEFAR Monthly Indicators, at the end of February 2019, closed sales reached a total of 2,086 at an average price of $255,515. The supply of inventory was at 3.7 months.

Normally, five to six months is considered a market that is balanced between buyers and sellers. Therefore, the early months’ supply of inventory for 2019 showed that it was a seller’s market because the demand was higher than the supply. Higher demand meant prices of homes could go at a slightly higher rate as well.

Now, if we fast forward to 2020, at the end of February, there were a total of 2,201 closed sales at an average price of $287,068. The supply of inventory was at 2.9 months. The higher demand and increasingly lowering supply of inventory has resulted in multiple bids on homes occurring more often that increased the average sales price.

Obviously, there is one huge factor that was not an issue last year: The Coronavirus.

It goes without saying the potentially deadly virus is bad; however, the huge changes we’ve seen in March regarding the Feds slashing the interest rates to zero is good. Now I am not a banking money person and was totally clueless as to what this actually meant in simple terms. Luckily, Dylan Matthews of Vox understands most things financial and was able to dummy it down for me.

He basically explained that when the Feds use its powers to lower the rate, that means borrowing is cheaper. As a result, loans are cheaper and mortgage rates fall. Apparently, this is more of an incentive for the borrower to take a step in the home buying direction.

Instead of sellers waiting until Spring or Summer to put their homes on the market, it would actually be more advantageous to put their house on the market as soon as possible. With demand so high and supply so low, now is the perfect time to sell a house for the greatest dollar value and the least hassle.


http://atwaulbennett.com

__________________________________________________________________________________

References:

Use and Required Source Credit: NEFAR is happy to share all data in our market statistics reports; prior permission is not required. Source credit is required for all uses, however, including use by NEFAR members. Whether used for written, digital, broadcast, spoken, social media or other, all uses of NEFAR data must be accompanied by the following attribution - Source: Northeast Florida Association of Realtors.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/3/15/21180834/fed-slashes-interest-rates-what-does-it-mean-mortgages. The Fed is bringing interest rates to 2008 crisis levels to fight a coronavirus downturn

Interest rates are now at zero, just like in the 2008 financial crisis.
By Dylan Matthews@dylanmattdylan@vox.com  Mar 15, 2020, 6:00pm EDT