5 Reasons To Sell Your Twin Cities Home Now
The 5 Reasons Twin Cities Home Sellers Should List Now
Even though March is still very much a winter month in the Twin Cities, we had a few days of spring-like weather in February. Those days may have been a teaser but I will tell what is no joke – the spring home buying season started in January! Buyers are eagerly snatching up properties with wild abandon. If you are planning to sell your house this year, the earlier in the year you get your house on the market, the better. This phenomenal seller's market is not going to last forever but right now it’s all about you and the question on my mind today is, what are you waiting for?
1. Tenacious Buyers Will Not Be Here Forever
To say there are many eager buyers in the market watching the posting of new listings with a keen eye is an understatement. Many have not just been anticipating home ownership for weeks, a great number of buyers have been looking for months. With so much competition for so little inventory, a large number of these buyers have attempted to secure a deal on a home only to lose out to another eager buyer. They are not giving up anytime soon but market conditions such as rising interest rates may force them out. This sense of urgency is inspiring them to make great offers, very often above list price while making few demands.
2. The Anticipated Rise in Interest Rates Could Knockout A Sellers' Market
The market experienced an unanticipated spike in mortgage interest rates at the end of last year immediately following the presidential election. Right now they bounce around from 4.125 % to 4.25%. Originally the Fed said they anticipated 3 interest rate hikes in 2017. Then we heard it would probably be only one when St. Louis Fed President James Bullard spoke at Washington University in St. Louis back on February 13, 2017. Kiplinger’s, in their analysis, is talking about two or three rate hikes this year and believes that the hike will come by summer but not likely when the fed meets next on March 14-15. Of course, it is all speculation but for many first-time home buyers, even a modest rate hike may sideline their dream of home ownership, at least for now. Since none of us actually know when the rate hike is coming or how much it might be, home buyers prefer to act sooner than later and this appears to be good advice. The National Association of Realtors projects that by the end of this year the average 30-year fixed mortgage rate will be 4.6% which harbors a probably change to the dynamics of the market.
3. The New Administration Unknowns Have the Market on Edge
At this stage of the game, we expect policy changes but we don’t know how they are going to impact the housing market or how quickly the market will react. We do know that the first executive order of this new administration raised the Private Mortgage Insurance by a quarter point for those buyers seeking FHA loans. This might be a trend that will continue and will make the purchase of a home for lower income families without a large downpayment more difficult. New banking regulations or the abolishment of regulations may make it necessary to require larger down payments to secure a mortgage. Adding this to rising rates will considerably shrink the pool of eligible buyers. We know the market conditions are very favorable today. However, since we do not know what the ensuing months will bring, it makes sense to sell your home now, or as early in the year as possible.
4. Twin Cities Historical All-time Low Inventory Level
Although the number of new listings week over week since the beginning of January have been increasing, properties are being snatched up really quickly by avid home buyers. For the month of January, the supply of inventory was at 1.7 months. Additionally, we closed out the week of February 18th with the inventory levels down 23.8 percent less than the same time last year and at the same time witness median sales prices rising with days on the market falling. Traditionally, here in the Twin Cities, as temperatures rise throughout the spring months so do the number of homes for sale. In May, June, July there will be more homes for buyers to choose from and increased competition for sellers.
5. Enjoy A Leisurely Summer
In my opinion, being one step ahead of the crowd and in a new home before the beginning of summer is appealing no matter what market conditions prevail. Summers are brief and move swiftly enough, who wants to spend half of it packing, moving and then unpacking when you can have it done before the warm weather arrives. Think of the advantages of spending the summer on your new deck, sipping lemonade and reading a great novel as opposed to figuring out where to place your furniture. Do you want to give up the time to play your favorite sports or engage in the outdoor activities you have looked forward to all winter? Is giving up the annual family weekend getaways because you need to put every single one of your possessions in a cardboard box and then take it out on the other end a fair exchange?
The dynamics of today's market negate what has long been a real estate philosophy that spring is the best time to sell your home. The 5 factors just presented fly in the face of that school of thought. Unless you have a compelling personal reason to hold up the sale of your house, the best time is now. If you want to start the engine that is going to power selling your home sooner than later, give me a call and together we can forge a workable plan to make this happen quickly and seamlessly.
As always, you know where to find me.
Check out other posts on the topic of Selling Your Home: How to Buy and Sell a Home in the Twin Cities, How to Be a Rock Star Seller in Five Easy Steps
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