After some difficult times, some rays of sunshine are popping out in the local real estate market.
Welcome to the roll out of the Real Estate Section of The Unionville Times. The Matson Goldman team is honored to have the opportunity to launch this section and is really excited to bring readers good news about the local real estate market.
Good news about the real estate market, you say? Is it possible? Well, like all economic indicators, the housing market is not yet on a steady incline, but anecdotally and statistically, there is reason to believe that better times are around the corner. For instance, just an observation from our vantage point at Keller Williams in the Brandywine Valley Office, the phones are ringing off the hook and our office has written more contracts in every month of 2012 than in every comparable month in 2011. And it’s not just our office.
Statistically, Chester County has seen a 48% increase in pending units in March, 2012 compared to March, 2011 (Trend Market Report). What does pending mean? It means homes that are under contract and waiting for settlement. Yes, that’s 48% more homes than this time last year! So, the good news has started to eclipse the concerning news, at least for now.
For the average seller, buyer or agent, these are not just statistics. Our buyer’s agent reported seeing homes go under contract within the 48 hours every day this week, depriving motivated and qualified buyers of an opportunity to even see these homes before they were gone. Interesting…we haven’t seen this for a while. But despite the stress on buyers and their agents, it’s definitely a positive indicator.
What can we conclude from this recent activity and apparent inventory shortages? Well, the laws of supply and demand should cause an upswing in prices if the inventory shortages persist. Theoretically, if prices did start to climb, that would be a first since 2007. Having said that (yes, there’s always a disclaimer) some projections suggest that an inventory of foreclosures will enter the market in the 5-county region within the next six months and that may undermine the “shortages.” But in our micro community we are likely to see a deficit of attractively priced homes in good condition through the spring selling season and into the early summer months.
While these market conditions are certainly favorable to sellers, this is also good news for buyers. While popular wisdom dictates that it cannot be both a seller’s and a buyer’s market, we can say this about the market we are experiencing today. Sellers are selling and buyers are buying, and both are benefiting from the recent activity in the market. So we say to Sellers – there are buyers trying to buy homes who cannot find one. If you are thinking of selling, do it now! Buyers – don’t wait until rates go up and prices start to increase. You will regret it – we guarantee it! In next week’s issue we will feature some of the reasons that our community remains such a desirable place to live.
For more information about the Matson Goldman Team go to www.matsongoldman.com or visit us on Facebook.
