What the Heck is Going on With This Market?

There is no question that this market is hot for sellers, but it's not too shabby for buyers, either!

What does this mean?

Here in the Valley of the Sun (as in much of the country as a whole) we are seeing a drastic shortage of homes available for sale. This is due to SO many factors, including the Covid-19 Pandemic's economic effects, the need and ability for people to work from home, the drop in mortgage interest rates enabling many to refinance and reduce monthly payment amounts, ... I could go on and on.

This time last year, on a daily basis, there were approximately 30,000 active listing in the Phoenix valley. This year, there are about 4,000. There are still thousands of buyers moving to the valley each month, and people wanting to make a local move for one reason or another also. When you factor in the law of supply and demand, the prices of homes for sale have risen 10-20% in the last 6 months. As I stated in my fall newsletter, "For many

homeowners, this translates into thousands and even tens of thousands in equity growth.". Hooray for sellers! There are, however, challenges that the sellers are facing. Many times they are receiving multiple offers on their homes (doesn't sound like a problem, right? Keep reading...), and they're not all apples to apples. Long story short, having the RIGHT agent (Psssst...that's ME!) dissect and translate each offer is imperative so as a seller, you're leaving nothing on the table. (Reason 4,619 NOT to try to sell it yourself).

For the buyers out there, yes...they are buying at an escalated price. Interest rates, however are still at a very comfortable high 2 to mid 3%, which makes mortgage payments do-able. The other issues buyers are having to contend with is that they will most certainly be competing in multi-offer situations, and having to give each offer everything they've got just to be considered. It's a bit of a frenzy, but this is where having the RIGHT agent comes in (Psssst...ME again!). I educate my buyers and together we strategize the structure of each offer in a way that the seller just can't say no.

I hear a lot of people say "I'll just rent when I get to the area and buy next year when the bubble bursts and the market crashes", or they discuss staying in their current rental until their lease ends next year and will buy then. My answer to this is "PLEASE DON'T WAIT!". I don't have a crystal ball (boy, wouldn't THAT be nice?), but there are a lot of predictive factors saying that these market conditions aren't going away any time soon. In addition, if (when, really) the interest rates go up, so will monthly mortgage payments for new loan recipients. How long do you want to be paying someone else's mortgage off rather than your own? So much to consider.

Do you want to talk about the opportunities available to you in today’s hot housing market?

Reach out to me... I’d be happy to help.