The NWMLS ago came out with its monthly digest of market observations. One observation that has stuck with me the past couple months is that a significant number of sellers (and their agents) are testing the ceilings of the market. Over nine consecutive quarters of flagging inventory, sellers have seen buyers pay $100k, $200k, even $300k above fair market value for popular suburban neighborhood homes. Now many of them are rolling the dice “will they pay a million over?” Some of this may be accounted for by a surge of luxury homes hitting the market, but not all of it. This marks a departure from the summer’s tried and true tactic of pricing a property attractively (5-10% below recent sales) in an attempt to get as many buyers to see a home as possible. Sellers today are setting prices 20% or more above reliable valuation models. With so few homes for sale, these “balloon” listings are going to skew MLS data. Inflated asking prices lead to longer stints on market, which translates to phantom inventory and slower sales. In every market, I’ve advised my buyer-clients to take list prices with heaping grains of salt. If it seems too low to be true, it probably is. Same goes if it seems to high to be true.
My advice in today’s crazy-making market, is simply to ignore the balloons floating overhead. If enough desperate buyers bite on those risks, the impact on the housing market will spread risk to all homeowners. When interest rates inevitably rise from their recent historic lows and inventory slowing catches up with demand, the local economic base will dictate the price of homes moving forward. Instead of chasing atmospheric balloons, work with me to set up systems that allow you to see the inventory quick, to make a quick yes/no decision, and to act quickly and decisively to engage the honest-to-goodness sellers.
Link to the article HERE
If the link doesn't work, copy and paste this:
https://www.nwmls.com/News--Information/page/Northwest-MLS-brokers-report-gains-in-new-listings-closed-sales-prices-versus-year-ago
"Buyers should consider staying in the market, if they can, as homeowners who are selling in the last quarter of the year tend to be highly motivated. Buyers will find less competition this time of year due to inclement weather and holiday travel"
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