Everywhere I go the people who know I am a real estate Broker ask me about the current real estate market. It is still crazy but I think it is in the process of changing again.
It has slowed down some because we are still dealing with a super low inventory of homes. We currently have under 700 active residential listing in a 15 county – or more- area. Sellers are hesitant to put their homes on the market for fear they will not be able to get another home if they are staying in this area.
Meantime, Buyers are trying to buy something, making endless offers on properties, only to lose out in multi-offer situations.
Cash is still king because it eliminates so many issues in the escrow process. No financing contingency and most importantly no appraisal issues.
If a buyer is using VA financing, it is extremely difficult to get an offer accepted due to the appraisal contingency. If the house does not appraise for what the Buyer offered, they can terminate the contract or the Seller can agree to sell at the lower appraised price. Sellers do not like doing that.
My observations this week as I am dealing with a listing with multiple offers and two buyers making offers on properties are first; the sellers are super nervous negotiating or accepting an offer for fear they are leaving money on the table. Second, Buyers are super nervous in that prices seem artificially high on the properties they are making offers on and second guessing themselves on if they are paying too much!
What do I think is going to happen? I think the market is going to slow, especially if inventory remains low. I think our national economy is going to start affecting us locally. I think rising interest rates and growing inflation is going to slow down the number of buyers jumping into the market for the next several months. Until consumer confidence returns I think the real estate market will slow down a bit and home value appreciation will slow down as well.
Posted by Claudia Carroll on
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