“We have already received 3 offers on this home. If you want to submit an offer, we need it by 6 pm tonight”.  That’s a pretty typical situation that a lot of buyers find themselves in right now.  On Feb 24th, things were pretty slow and now, April 5th, as I write this, things are the exact opposite.  However, that doesn’t mean that the market is headed in a good direction. Let’s look at the details…

DEMAND: Demand, or number of homes sold is tracking with last year. Just like we saw many multiple offer situations last year, we are seeing the same thing. It’s really hard on folks who must sell their home in order to buy. This type of market puts them at a huge disadvantage.  We have just begun letting clients of ours that are in that boat know that their best strategy may be to move twice. Meaning that they sell their home and if there isn’t a home they love to buy, they may just wait, move into temporary housing, until the ideal home becomes available. It’s tough but, what is your dream worth?

SUPPLY AND INVENTORY ACCUMULATION: While supply is tracking above last year, the inventory accumulation is mirroring last year. That’s significant because it means that those extra homes that are going on the market are being bought/absorbed. The demand is keeping up with the extra supply.

SOLD TO LIST RATIO: This one is an anomaly. However, the reason is the market at $1 million and above.  For homes under $1m, the ratio is 94.2% and 4 months of inventory. Above $1m its 85% of asking and 26 months of inventory. That’s a big difference. When looking back at sales above $1m, it seems that market may have hit a peak in 2014 with a list to sale price ratio at 92.2% and then 89% in 2015. However that’s hard to say based on one piece of data.  One conclusion we can come to is that the high end market is dragging this number down.

RATES: Rates continue to be steady in the 3.75 for 30 year conventional, tier 1 credit and 3.375% on FHA which is way lower than we thought they would be at this point. This makes it very attractive to borrow money.

CONCLUSION: It seems that the slow down has yet to arrive in Chester County. Overall the market is still move quite quickly, with sellers being firmly in control and buyers having to fight for every offer they put in.  With rates being very low, STILL, it’s really incentivizing folks to get off the fence and do something.

As many of you know, WE NEED YOUR HELP!!  We cannot keep listings on the market. They have been selling just about as soon as they hit the market.  We also have buyers looking for just about every type of home out there.

So – WHO do you know who is looking to move in the next 60 – 90 days. Please call us IMMEDIATELY if you know someone and help us get connected. Chances are we have a buyer for their home.

You can reach us at 484-696-4833