If you’re trying to decide when to sell your house, there may not be a better time to list than right now. The ultimate sellers’ market we’re in today won’t last forever. If you're thinking of making a move, here are four reasons to put your house up for sale sooner rather than later.
According to the Realtors Confidence Index released by the National Association of Realtors(NAR), homes continue to sell quickly on average, they’re selling in just 17 days. As a seller, that’s great news for you.
Average days on market is a strong indicator of buyer demand. And if homes are selling quickly, buyers have to be more decisive and act fast to submit their offer before other buyers swoop in.
In addition to selling quickly, homes are receiving multiple offers. That same survey shows sellers are seeing an average of 4.5 offers, and they're competitive ones. The graph below shows how the average number of offers right now compares to previous years:
One of the most significant challenges for motivated buyers is the current inventory of homes for sale. Though its improving, it remains at near-record lows. The chart below shows how todays low inventory stacks up against recent years. The lighter the blue is in the chart, the lower the housing supply.
If your current home no longer meets your needs, it may be the perfect time to make a move. Today, homeowners are gaining a significant amount of wealth through growing equity. You can leverage that equity, plus current low mortgage rates, to power your move now .But these near-historic low rates wont last forever.
Experts forecast interest rates will rise. In their forecast, Freddie Mac says:
While we forecast rates to increase gradually later in the year, we don’t expect to see a rapid increase. At the end of the year, we forecast 30-year rates will be around 3.4%, rising to 3.8% by the fourth quarter of 2022.
When rates rise, even modestly, itll impact your monthly payment and by extension your purchasing power.
Don’t delay. The combination of housing supply challenges, low mortgage rates, and extremely motivated buyers gives sellers a unique opportunity this season. If you're thinking about making a move, let’s chat about why it makes sense to list your house now.
Day to day life has a lot of moving parts. Unfortunately, this sometimes makes it a little too easy to misplace some of those things that we use every day. This can be a real hassle, causing you to spend time looking for the various things you need instead of using them. Most smartphones come with a “find my phone” feature, so wouldn’t it be great if everything else had a similar function?
With the advent of smart tags, this is actually possible. These tags make it easy to locate lost items around the home and can even provide extra security against theft or loss while you’re out and about. The specific features and functions depend on the brand of smart tags that you use, but regardless of brand you’ll find that there are some features that are universal.
Smart tags are small battery-powered devices that you can connect to with a phone or some other smart devices. When you’re looking for an item with a smart tag attached, the smart app can either show the location or cause the tag itself to make a noise to make it easier to find. Items with attached tags that are outside of Bluetooth range can still be tracked using the smart tag app as well. Many smart tags also feature GPS features, and even those that don’t tend to show their location the last time they were detected by the app so that you at least have a starting point in finding them.
Depending on the manufacturer and the specific model of smart tag you’re using, there are a few different ways that you can attach smart tags to items. Some tags are designed to attach to a keyring, carabiner clip, or similar attachment point, while others use adhesive backings to stick directly to objects. Specialized holders for smart tags can also be used to further customize your experience and keep track of the important things in your life.
There are a wide range of items that you can use smart tags to keep track of around the home. Attaching smart tags to your keys seems like something of a no-brainer, saving you the time it takes to track them down when you’re already running late. Tablets, wireless home phones, remote controls, and purses are also good candidates for the smart tag treatment. Wallets featuring built-in smart tag holders or custom holders shaped like credit cards can make your wallet much easier to find as well.
This is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to finding uses for smart tags in and around the home, however. Small tags can be attached to screwdrivers, hammers, or other tools that see frequent use around the home. Beloved toys can also have a tag attached, giving you an easy way to check that they aren’t left behind when traveling or visiting others on playdates. You can even attach a tag to your phone in case it’s lost, or for some models you can double-press a button on one of the tags and it will ring your phone to help you find it through the app. The usefulness of smart tags is limited only by your needs and your imagination.
By making use of smart tags, you can ensure that items are easy to find and put back where they go. You can even use this as part of a larger overall organizational strategy, setting up specific places for various things and tagging them accordingly. If that sounds like a big task, there are pro organizers out there who can help you get it done.
Even though experts agree there's no chance of a large-scale foreclosure crisis, there are a number of homeowners who may be coming face-to-face with foreclosure as a possibility. And while the overall percentage of homeowners at risk is decreasing with time (see graph below), that's little comfort to those individuals who are facing challenges today.
Foreclosure is the legal process by which a lender attempts to recover the amount owed on a defaulted loan by taking ownership of and selling the mortgaged property. Typically, default is triggered when a borrower misses a specific number of monthly payments . . .
The good news is, there are alternatives available to help you avoid having to go through the foreclosure process, including:
But before you go down any of those paths, its worth seeing if you have enough equity in your home to sell it and protect your investment.
Equity is the difference between what you owe on the home and its market value based on factors like price appreciation.
In todays real estate market, many homeowners have far more equity in their homes than they realize. Over the last year, buyer demand has been high, but housing supply has been low. That's led to a substantial increase in home values. When prices rise, so does the amount of equity you have in your house.
According to CoreLogic, on average, homeowners gained 33,400 in equity over the last 12 months, and the average equity on mortgaged homes is now 216,000 (see map below):
Frank Martell, President and CEO of CoreLogic, elaborates on how equity can help:
Homeowner equity has more than doubled over the past decade and become a crucial buffer for many weathering the challenges of the pandemic. These gains have become an important financial tool and boosted consumer confidence in the U.S. housing market.
To find out what your house is worth in todays market, work with a local real estate professional. Well be able to give you an estimate of what your house could sell for based on recent sales of similar homes in your area. Since home prices are still appreciating, you may be able to sell your house to avoid foreclosure.
If you find out that you have to pursue other options, your agent can help with that too. Well be able to connect you with other professionals in the industry, like housing counselors who can look into your unique situation and offer advice on next steps if selling isn't the best alternative.
If you're a homeowner facing hardship, lets connect to explore your options and see if you can sell your house to avoid foreclosure.
One of the major story lines over the last year is how well the residential real estate market performed. One key metric in the spotlight is home price appreciation. According to the latest indices, home prices are skyrocketing this year.
Here are the latest percentages showing the year-over-year increase in home price appreciation:
The dramatic increases are seen at every price point and in all regions of the country.
According to the latest Home Price Index from CoreLogic, each price range is seeing at least a 19% increase year-over-year:
Every region in the country is experiencing at least a 14.9% increase in home price appreciation, according to the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA):
According to the U.S. National Home Price Index from S&P Case-Shiller, every major metro is seeing at least a 13.3% growth in prices (see graph below):
Prices are the result of the balance between supply and demand. The demand for single-family homes has been strong over the last 18 months. The supply of houses available for sale was near historic lows. However, there's some good news on the supply side. Realtor.com reports:
432,000 new listings hit the national housing market in August, an increase of 18,000 over last year.
There will, however, still be a shortage of supply compared to demand in 2022. CoreLogic reveals:
Given the widespread demand and considering the number of standalone homes built during the past decade, the single-family market is estimated to be undersupplied by 4.35 million units by 2022.
Yet, most forecasts call for home price appreciation to moderate in 2022. The Home Price Expectation Survey, a survey of over 100 economists, investment strategists, and housing market analysts, calls for a 5.12% appreciation level next year. Here are the 2022 home appreciation forecasts from the four other major entities:
Price appreciation is expected to slow in 2022 when compared to the record highs of 2021. However, it is still expected to be greater than the annual average of 4.1% over the last 25 years.
If you owned a home over the past year, you've seen your household wealth grow substantially, and you'll see another nice boost in 2022. If you're thinking of buying, consider buying now as prices are forecast to continue increasing through at least next year.
Becoming financially secure is an important goal for many people today, but some don't realize just how much homeownership can help them achieve that dream. A recent report, The Journey Toward Financial Freedom, surveys Americans about their perspective on financial wellness and their goals. It shows there may be a significant misconception about the role owning a home plays in building wealth:
Home ownership is one of the indicators Americans say is least connected to financial health.”
Two major personal wealth goals homeownership and net worth work hand-in-hand. Below are just a few reasons why, if you're looking for financial security, homeownership should be a top priority.
Every three years, the Federal Reserve releases the Survey of Consumer Finances which highlights the difference in wealth between homeowners and renters. The graph below shows the findings across the previous surveys including the latest data (2019), and the results are staggering:
. . . between 2016 and 2019, housing wealth was the single biggest contributor to the increase in net worth across all income groups . . . .
When we look even closer at the most recent data from 2019, the average homeowners net worth is more than 40 times greater than that of the average renter (see graph below):
If you're ready to start building your net worth, the current real estate market offers several opportunities you should consider. For example, with todays low mortgage rates, your purchasing power may be higher now than it has been in some time. That means there may be no better time than now to start working towards your homeownership goals especially since rates are anticipated to rise in the coming months.
Owning a home provides one of the strongest foundations for building individual wealth and lasting financial security. If you're ready to start your path towards homeownership, lets connect today.
