Did You Miss Out On The Buyers Market?

If you haven’t bought a home in the last few years because you were going to wait for the bottom of the real estate market… I hate to tell you, but you missed it.  In fact, in many areas and price ranges of West Chester, Liberty Township, Mason, Fairfield and Fairfield Township it’s not a buyer’s market at all anymore.  That’s right, you may now be  faced with buying a home in a seller’s market.

How did this happen you ask?  First let’s identify the difference between a buyer’ market and a seller’s market.  These two markets are defined by the amount of inventory of homes currently available for sale.  Less than six months worth of inventory is a seller’s market, more that six months is a buyer’s market.  As you can see in our December Home Prices report for West Chester, a great deal of that market is in fact a seller’s market.

So back to the question at hand, How did this happen?  It is a combination of two factors really.  We have seen an uptick in home sales activity in the past year and at the same time we have seen a trend of fewer people listing their homes for sale.  Increased demand and reduced supply = A Seller’s Market.  It’s good old supply and demand economics!

Now what do you do?  Well if you want to buy your first home, do it, if you are wanting to move up to a larger home from your current one, get your home listed for sale now.  The only benefits to waiting are higher interest rates and higher sale prices as home values start to recover(those are benefits??).  So if you wait… you’ll get to pay a lot more for your new home.

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Will it stay this way?  There is really no way to accurately predict what will happen in the coming months and years in the real estate market.  The evidence that we have at hand though says waiting to buy may not be the best strategy.  The competition for the best deals is likely to continue to be very strong.  When you find a home to purchase that you believe is a really good deal, get an offer submitted immediately.  Waiting to thinking about it for a while will likely cause you to lose it.

So, while yes you did miss out on the buyer’s market, now is still a very good time to buy.  Do not wait around now until interest rates move up.  Interest rates raising a half percent is equal to an increase in home prices of five percent.  Don’t miss out on low rates too.

Other articles that may interest you:

This Month In Real Estate – January 2013

December Home Prices Report For West Chester Ohio