The Bubble Has Yet To Burst On Existing Homes For Sale

For months now, the doomsayers have been forecasting a burst in the real estate bubble. The burst has yet to happen. According to data released during the first week of October, the median existing homes for sale price fell in August by 1.7 percent, a first in over ten years of year-to-year pricing. The number of homes for sale has jumped to 3.9 million, which is the highest inventory level since 1993.

The bubble for homes for sale still exists; however, because jobs, income and interest rates are still in great shape. This means that forecasts are still excellent for this year, which is expected to be the third best year in history for home sales.

That does not mean that sales figures are as good as last year at this time, when the bubble made homes for sale pricing unrealistically high. With prices coming down and homes for sale inventories rising, the real estate market is moving toward a buyer’s market — but we still are a long way from there at this time.

The current homes for sale market means that buyers can take longer to make buying decisions, which keeps many homes for sale on the market longer. There is more competition for owners of homes for sale, requiring different selling techniques.

The most important thing is to accurately price homes for sale. Too high, and they will remain on the market too long. Sellers must be realistic. Homes for sale owners must begin to look at the “real” price of their home, based on what they actually paid for it and for what price they can sell it. They cannot look at the “paper” equity that was created by the bubble — you cannot lose money that was never real! The only money lost is in “theory,” based on what an earlier, unrealistic market said for what you could sell your property. The only “real” money that would be lost would be if you had to sell a home for less than you paid, and the homes for sale market is not at that point and hopefully never will be.

The second most important selling technique for homes for sale is to market it correctly and make it stand out amongst all the other homes for sale. Preparation before putting your home on the market will make a difference. Have it inspected beforehand and repair, renovate and replace any defective items in the interior and exterior of the home, as well as landscaping problems. Stage your home for showing — fresh paint, fewer furniture pieces attractively positioned to make rooms appear larger (put your extra pieces in storage), adding small decorative accents of color to pull the viewer’s eye to unique features within the rooms, and so on. Some realtors can assist owners of homes for sale with “buy-down” mortgage products to add more buying appeal to the property without having to lower the sale price.

In this current market, the owners of homes for sale with the edge are those who take the extra time and effort before putting their homes on the market, along with a realistic selling price.

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