Is 2022 a Good Time to Sell A Home?
Could 2022 be a good time to sell a house? This is something that many homeowners will be asking themselves this year, especially considering the great increase in home value that began over a year ago. Many will be considering waiting another year to see if they can add value to their home, but as we will learn in the following article, most online estate agents believe that 2022 is a great year to sell the house and walk away with a top profit.
There are some good reasons that the experts recommend selling homes this year, most importantly is the great demand for buyers and the shortage of homes. At the same time, the prices of homes are still rising and show no sign of slowing down anytime soon.
Some first-time home buyers will find the strain of the current market too much to face and may leave the market. What this means is that if you are serious about selling your home, you may want to do so before the interest rates close. In the seller’s housing market, if there are more interested buyers in a market than available homes, it can be especially difficult to buy a home, especially for first-time buyers.
According to the NAR, the average price for existing homes nationwide in August was just under $400,000 and this represents an increase of 7.7% since exactly a year ago. What we are looking at is the longest streak of year-to-year price increase recorded —126 months so far.
But it was the second consecutive month that the median sale prices have retracted since it had reached a record high of $413,800, which is typical of a price decline after early summer.
Fannie Mae’s housing survey for August shows that 59% of respondents nationwide believe 2022 is a good time to sell your house.
The percentage of respondents that say it is a good time to sell the home has gone down from 67% to 59%, at the same time, the percentage who say it is a bad time to sell a home has increased from 27% to 35%. This has led to a net share of those saying it is a good time to sell being decreased month to month.
According to stats from Realtor.com for the week of September 24, homebuyers and sellers are making adjustments and the market is rebalancing; this has meant more for-sale options for homebuyers, despite fewer homeowners being eager to sell their homes considering the softening of future home sales.
Even though many home prices will continue to grow at an unprecedented rate, market balance always tend to drop off during the fall and the prices cool off as well. This makes the last week of September one of the best weeks to buy a home. The typical listing price in September was a whole $23,000 less than June’s highest average price of $450,000.
Should I Sell My House Now or Wait Until 2023?
Late September is always a good year for selling your home as there are some important advantages including many available homes and fewer buyers. Some smart shoppers may be able to leverage this set of circumstances to achieve a lower asking price for the home they are considering, especially considering that 1 out of every 5 homes will see a considerably reduced price at this time. The average listing price has increased by as much as 13.3% over the last year. The average asking price for a home continues to surpass the same prices from last year by double-digit figures and this has now continued for the 39th week in a row.
The number of new listings, which is the number of new homeowners placing their houses on the markets, has decreased by 10% from the last year. This is an indicator that fewer sellers believe that this is a good time to sell a house. The last week of September is the sixth week in a row in which new listings for sale have decreased one year after another.
Despite record levels of equity, sellers are also somewhat reluctant to participate in the markets today, because it means that 3 out of every 4 sellers will also have to purchase a house. Added to this is the fact that rising mortgage rates have doubled for the past year and have reduced all sellers’ capacity to trade up without increasing their mortgage considerably.
The amount of active inventory is also increasing each year. This year saw a full 29% more homes than last year and this means that the balance between the sellers and the buyers is shifting as well. The inventory available in the market is pretty much the same as it was before the pandemic. According to a report from Realtor.com in the September Housing Report, listings have plummeted 40% since their position before 2019.
What this all means is that the housing correction has already begun and it would seem that sellers have already gotten the hint. If sellers are suddenly choosing not to enter the markets because they doubt that this is the best time to sell, the advance of the housing market can be slowed and it could take a while to recover. With housing prices at the highest points, they have been in a while, house sellers should realize their good position and take action.
Homes will remain on the market for an additional 6 days compared to their time spent on the market last year. Nevertheless, properties are selling a full 2 weeks faster than they had been in 2019. Before beginning to look into the market, buyers should have their properties in order and be preapproved for their mortgage, so they can act swiftly when the markets present an opportunity. As usual, the most desirable properties will sell fast, and buyers will have more time to decide on what is left.
Don’t Wait Until 2023 to Sell Your House
With persistent supply rates and the buyer demand being what it is, this is as good a time as you could hope for to sell a house. And with the borrowing rate quickly closing the profit gaps, the sooner the better. If rates get any higher, many buyers may leave the property search altogether. But you should be very careful to evaluate your true motive for selling. If you had no specific goals for selling and are simply waiting for the market to present a good opportunity, you may also choose to wait.
One last important thing to do would be to find a good broker to help you sell your home. A skilled real estate agent’s input and expertise may also prove valuable in the upcoming search. Take all the time you can to explore the opportunities available to you and ask your friends and family to make some good recommendations as well. If they have had some positive experiences with one real estate agent the same may be possible for you. Word-of-mouth advertising is one of the best ways to find a reliable real estate expert. So, if you have friends, family, or neighbors, who have recently sold a home, ask for a reference.
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