Buyers Wanting to Buy, Sellers Wanting to Wait!

Translation: Market Stabilization is ON the way

One of the best ways to gain insight within the real estate market playing field is to talk to the main players. Who are the main players in this case? Buyers and sellers. With changing attitudes and trends constantly affecting our real estate bottom lines, it’s important to consider what the masses are thinking and how their attitudes stand to shape the up and coming market trends in the near and distant future. It’s always beneficial to know and understand what the main players in any game are thinking – and the real estate market is no different.

“I’ve Waited Long Enough”

The general sentiment among buyers these days is that they’ve waited for quite some time and now the time has come to “strike while the iron is hot”. In terms of property purchases, there are several benefit to buyers these days.

One, the prices reflected in today’s market are similar to what consumers witnessed ten years ago. The opportunities that seem to be presenting themselves are limitless for buyers at this point. The sense of urgency felt by potential property owners is highlighted even more so because of the reasonable and relatively easy availability of such excellent deals. In this unstable market there is no telling what could happen next so to be sure, they feel they should avail the present opportunities.

The second thing that is a major plus point for buyers to purchase a home these days is that in case of financing, the rates are still quite low. Further, during the past two months, interest rates have begun to show a steady incline – which means that this is a great time for buyers to lock in those still-low interest rates and secure a good finance package before the rates rise more. At just 5.125%, the rate is still lower than the years-long average in the region.

Finally, in light of all the low interest rate hoopla and excellent home prices showing on the market these days, buyers are sensing that many of the premium listings are being swept up by other buyers. They feel that before this phenomenon spirals even more out of control, why not seize the opportunity and try to nab the best deals on the best properties available out there?

“Let’s Wait It Out Just a Bit Longer”

In terms of properties, “a bit longer” here translates to something like five, or more, years. Considering the other end of the spectrum from buyers – people who would otherwise be looking to sell their homes are very conservatively opting to hold on to their properties for now. Though many of these homes are fresh off the latest MLS, or they have been purposely withdrawn from the selling market, most sellers are now heading toward the direction of waiting.

The main reason for sellers’ motivation to hold off on seeing transactions through at this time, is so that they can realize better appreciation and returns on their property; a prospect that only a few months ago was not so bright in this uncertain housing market.

The interesting point is that if sellers keep this thought going, inventory starts to dwindle and if buyers are now feeling an urgency to buy, demand is rising. The impending result of both these things is that the market is one step closer to stabilization. Ultimately that is one thing that will benefit both buyers and sellers. Even though this is good news, there are still things to keep in mind – rising interest rates and unemployment rates in our region as well as nationally are also factors that can hurt or help the real estate outlook for us. Especially since in this area our market relies on resort inventory.

~
The current trend of buyers wanting to scoop up properties in time to catch and hold on to great interest rates – and sellers wanting to hold on longer till they can realize greater returns, tells us a great deal. Market analysts can quite often accurately predict the direction the industry is headed with these trends. What that means for you is that, regardless of what side of the fence you’re on, things look promising!