Where Are All the For Sale Houses?

The real estate recovery has been in the news a lot lately.  Many of you may be aware that the San Diego real estate market is drastically different than it was just a year ago.  Previously the issue was that there were so many houses on the market and the prices were still declining.  This caused many would be home buyers to sit on the fence and wait for the market to stabilize before making their purchase.  Well what a difference a year makes.

Last month there were aproximately 7700 houses and condos on the market in all of San Diego county.  Today there is just 6740.  The combination of historically low interest rates, pent up buyer demand and investors making their move have all contributed to the decline in inventory.  Right now there is actually a shortage of available properties.  At the peak of the recession there was a 13 month supply of inventory, today just over a 1 month.

So what does that mean to you?  Well, if you are buyer you need to be prepared for this and understand that you are going to need to be patient.  New listings are not flooding the market.  You are not going to have 20-30 houses to look at that meet your needs, in fact if you are in the under $250,000 range you are going to be lucky to have 5 (depending on area, size, etc).  You are going to need to act quickly and not wait for the weekend to view a property and submit an offer.  When a quality listing hits the market you need to be ready, meaning be prequalified for your loan and ready to make a decision.  You may also have to compromise on what you are looking for or raise your price point.  The days of "low balling" an offer are over.  You need to understand what homes are selling for in the area and submit a competitive, clean offer at market value.

If you are a seller you should be taking advantage of the low inventory.  If you are considering selling you need to get your home on the market.  Why wait until the banks release more REO's or the buyers purchase a different home?  You will need to be smart and understand that you still have to price the home to sell.  An overpriced home will not sell no matter what the inventory or market is like.  A home that is priced above market value is not going to sell.  It will not appraise so the buyer will not be able to get the loan and an investor will be a savvy buyer that thinks only of the bottom line.  You will also need to understand that while most areas of the county have seen a stabilization of prices, this does not mean that prices are significantly rising.  The market will bounce around down here at the bottom and slowly improve.  There is not going to be a sharp increase in prices which will bring you back up to where it was at the height within the next year.

If are considering buying or selling, give me a call.  I will assist you in understanding what the market value of a home is and help you through the entire process.