Buying & Selling Homes with The Collura Team

2016 Home Sales Doing Just Fine!! Some of the housing headlines are causing concern for some consumers who are in the process of either buying or selling a home. Pundits are concerned over the lack of new construction or the month-over-month sales numbers. Let’s set the record straight; 2015 was a good year for residential real estate in the United States and 2016 is starting out stronger. Here is a graph of total homes sold (new construction and existing homes) in the first two months in 2016 compared to last year: Will this momentum continue? If we look at foot traffic (the number of purchasers currently out looking at homes), we can see that the spring buying market has started early and all indicators point to the fact that we may have the best spring in over a decade. Bottom Line The 2016 housing market started out well and looks to be gaining steam. If you are thinking of buying or selling a home, now may be a great time.

3 Charts That Scream ‘List Your Home Today’ In school we all learned the Theory of Supply and Demand . When the demand for an item is greater than the supply of that item, the price will surely rise. SUPPLY The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reported that the inventory of homes for sale stands at a 4.4-month supply. This is considerably lower than the 6-month inventory necessary for a normal market. DEMAND Every month NAR reports on the amount of buyers that are actually out in the market looking for homes, or foot traffic. As seen in the graph below, buyer demand in February significantly outpaced the last six months. Many buyers are being confronted with a very competitive market in which they must compete with other buyers for their dream home  (if they even are able to find a home they wish to purchase). Listing your house for sale now will allow you to capitalize on the shortage of homes for sale in the market, which will translate

   The Importance of Using an Agent To Sell Your House When a homeowner decides to sell their house, they obviously want the best possible price with the least amount of hassles. However, for the vast majority of sellers, the most important result is to actually get the home sold. In order to accomplish all three goals, a seller should realize the importance of using a real estate professional. We realize that technology has changed the purchaser’s behavior during the home buying process. For the past three years, 92% of all buyers have used the internet in their home search according to the  National Association of Realtors’  most recent  Profile of Home Buyers & Sellers . However, the report also revealed that 95% percent of buyers that used the internet when searching for a home purchased their home through either a real estate agent/broker or from a builder or builder’s agent. Only 2% purchased their home directly from a seller whom the buyer didn’t know.

                                                                                                             What If I Wait Until Next Year To Buy A Home? As a seller, you will be most concerned about ‘short term price’ – where home values are headed over the next six months. As either a first-time or repeat buyer, you must not be concerned only about price but also about the ‘long term cost’ of the home. Let us explain. There are many factors that influence the ‘cost’ of a home. Two of the major ones are the home’s appreciation over time, and the interest rate at which a buyer can borrow the funds necessary to purchase their home. The rate at which these two factors can change is often referred to as “The Cost of Waiting”. What will happen over the next 12 months? According to CoreLogic’s latest Home Price Index , prices are expected to rise by 5.5% by this time next year. Additionally, Freddie Mac’s most recent Economic Commentary & Projections Table pre

Yes, Home Prices Are Rising. No, a New Housing Bubble is NOT Forming We recently reported that home prices are continuing to rise across most of the nation. This has created concern in some pundits that a housing bubble, like we saw ten years ago, is forming again. We want to explain why these concerns are unfounded. The current increase in home values can be easily explained by the theory of supply and demand . Right now, the number of families looking to purchase a home is greater than the supply of homes on the market. Here is a chart that explains how the months’ supply of housing inventory impacts home values: According to the latest Existing Home Sales Report from the National Association of Realtors , there is currently a four-month supply of inventory. That puts us in the blue section of the above graphic. Home prices should be appreciating. The difference in 2006… A decade ago, the demand for housing was artificially boosted by lending standards th

Housing Market To “Spring Forward” This Year Just like our clocks this weekend in the majority of the country, the housing market will soon “spring forward!” Similar to tension in a spring, the lack of inventory available for sale in the market right now is what is holding back the market. Many potential sellers believe that waiting until Spring is in their best interest, and traditionally they would have been right. Buyer demand has seasonality to it, which usually falls off in the winter months, especially in areas of the country impacted by arctic temperatures and conditions. That hasn’t happened this year. Demand for housing has remained strong as mortgage rates have remained near historic lows . The National Association of Realtors (NAR) recently reported that the top 10 dates sellers listed their homes in 2015 all fell in April, May or June. Those who act quickly and list now could benefit greatly from additional exposure to buyers prior to a flood

                                                                                      14,986 Homes Sold Yesterday… Did Yours? There are some homeowners that have been waiting for months to get a price they hoped for when they originally listed their house for sale. The only thing they might want to consider is... If it hasn't sold yet, maybe it's not priced properly. After all 14 , 986 houses sold yesterday, 14,986 will sell today and 14,986 will sell tomorrow. 14,986! That is the average number of homes that sell each and every day in this country according to the  National Association of Realtors’ (NAR)  latest  Existing Home Sales Report . NAR reported that sales are at an annual rate of 5.59 million. Divide that number by 365 (days in a year) and we can see that, on average, over 14,986 homes sell every day. The report from NAR also revealed that there is currently only a 4.0-month supply of inventory available for sale,  (6- months inventory