If you’re thinking about selling your house in 2022, you
truly have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity at your fingertips. When selling
anything, you always hope for strong demand for the item coupled with a limited
supply. That maximizes your leverage when you’re negotiating the sale. Home
sellers are in that exact situation right now. Here’s why.
Demand Is Very Strong
According to the latest Existing Home Sales Report from the
National Association of Realtors (NAR), 6.18 million homes were sold in 2021.
This was the largest number of home sales in 15 years. Lawrence Yun, Chief
Economist for NAR, explains:
“Sales for the entire year finished strong, reaching the
highest annual level since 2006. . . . With mortgage rates expected to rise in
2022, it’s likely that a portion of December buyers were intent on avoiding the
inevitable rate increases.”
Demand isn’t expected to weaken this year, either. In
addition, the Mortgage Finance Forecast, published last week by the Mortgage
Bankers’ Association (MBA), calls for existing-home sales to reach 6.4 million
homes this year.
Supply Is Very Limited
The same sales report from NAR also reveals the months’
supply of inventory just hit the lowest number of the century. It notes:
“Total housing inventory at the end of December amounted
to 910,000 units, down 18% from November and down 14.2% from one year ago (1.06
million). Unsold inventory sits at a 1.8-month supply at the present sales
pace, down from 2.1 months in November and from 1.9 months in December 2020.”
The reality is, inventory decreases every year in December.
That’s just how the typical seasonal trend goes in real estate. However, the
following graph emphasizes how this December was lower than any other December
going all the way back to 1999.
Right Now, Sellers Have Maximum Leverage
As mentioned above, when there’s strong demand for an item
and a limited supply of it available, the seller has maximum leverage in the
negotiation. In the case of homeowners who are thinking about selling, there
may never be a better time than right now. While demand is this high and
inventory is this low, you’ll have leverage in all aspects of the sale of your
house.
Today’s buyers know they need to be flexible negotiators
that make very competitive offers, so here are a few areas that could tip in
your favor when your house goes on the market:
·
Competitive sales price
·
Flexible closing date
·
Potential for a leaseback to allow you more time
to find a home
·
Minimal offer contingencies
Bottom Line
If you’re thinking of selling your house this year, now is
the optimal time to list it. Let’s connect to discuss how you can put your
house on the market today.
Source: Real Estate with Keeping Current Matters
