Happy New Year! We hope you and your loved ones enjoyed a wonderful New Year’s Eve and that you’re as excited and hopeful about 2015 as we are!
And if you’re a prospective home seller, a recent report from the National Association of Realtors suggests that there’s a good chance you can get a great price on your home right now.
According to the recent report, US home sales recently hit a six month low, with inventory at a low point too.
While this may seem discouraging at first blush, this actually suggests that those homes that are being sold on the market are being met with increased demand. After all, home buyers have a smaller selection of available homes to choose from than in recent months.
The key to sealing the deal on your home for sale and getting a great price is expert marketing.
A Closer Look at This Recent Real Estate Report
Here are some of the highlights from the recent National Association of Realtors report:
- Existing home sales decreased 6.1 percent to an annual rate of 4.93 million units.
- That figure is the lowest it’s been since May
- Meanwhile, home inventories reached an eighth month low.
- Home sales were up 2.1 percent from a year ago during the month of December.
- Meanwhile, the U.S. housing index was down 0.2 percent as shares in the largest homebuilder (D.R. Horton) decreased 0.4 percent. Lennar Corp fell 0.43 percent and Pulte Group decreased 0.19 percent.
- Also, the inventory of unsold homes decreased 6.7 percent from a year ago, to 2.09 million.
- At November’s sales pace, it would take 5.1 months to sell all homes currently on the market. A six month supply is usually considered a healthy balance between supply and demand.
- The decreased supply of homes means that the median home price increased 5 percent from a year ago.
Experts say that fickle wage growth as well as higher home prices have kept a lot of first-time home buyers out of the market.
Still, experts also say that with job gains and wage growth expected in early 2015, more and more first-time home buyers are likely to enter the market in the coming months.
In fact, during the month of November, first-time home buyers accounted for 31 percent of all transactions, which is the biggest share they’ve occupied since October 2012.
For comparison purposes, first-time home buyers comprised 29 percent of all transactions in October.
Expert Real Estate Marketing is Key to Selling Your Home
As you can see, there is plenty of opportunity to get a good price on your home, you just have to make sure your home stands out to prospective and qualified home buyers.
That’s where working with an experienced real estate agent can help. A professional will be able to create a custom-made marketing plan for your home that will maximize its exposure to the right buyers.
This will ultimately lead to you getting your home sold in a relatively short amount of time and for a great price!
Check back here soon for more expert insight on the national housing market and how it may impact you as a seller.
Here’s to a happy and prosperous 2015!