March real estate sales has set a new record for the Austin ares. Sales were up 10.5% with a total of 2714 homes sold. That’s the highest number of recorded sales for a single month….ever!
What that means for the market is that we continue to be in a strong seller’s market. How is a seller’s market defined? It’s when we have more buyers than sellers.
There is an imbalance in the market. We simply do not have enough homes on the market for the number of buyers wanting to buy.
That’s good news if you are thinking about selling your home. Here’s why:
1) There has never been a better market in which to sell your home. Never. Buyer demand is the strongest on record.
2) Prices are up. That’s what happens in a seller’s market. The limited supply of homes drives prices upward. Of course, that’s not good news for buyers.
3) Homes sell quickly. Right now it’s only taking about 70 days on average to sell a home in Austin. In some price ranges homes in selling in the first week or two.
4) Sellers experience fewer hassles. Because buyers have fewer choices that are not as picky when it comes to home inspection issues. They are more cooperative in seeing the transaction to a successful close.
5) Sellers are in the best negotiation position. Again, it’s not uncommon in homes priced below $300,000 to experience multiple offers.
Take a look at this chart.
What do you notice? The red line is 2018 sales and they are through the roof compared to recent years. And, what’s remarkable is that the last 5 years has been a strong seller’s market. It just got even stronger.
Buyers are worried about rising interest rates. This may be a key to understand what’s happening right now. They feel pressured to enter the market right now because of two main reasons. First, the lack of inventory, and second, rising mortgage rates.
