Sellers, sellers, where have you gone?


Sellers, sellers, where have you gone?
By Scott Rogers • January 13, 2012
As I commented in my monthly market report earlier this week, inventory has declined significantly (15%) over the past year! Why is inventory dropping so much??? I have a theory.... First and foremost, I believe there are quite a few homeowners who are deciding to lease their properties instead of selling them, after having had little success in the sales arena. I have seen this quite frequently over the past 6 months, and it makes sense --- leasing the property can provide a stream of income with which to pay the mortgage payment. Leasing a property also gets the homeowner down the road a bit (perhaps a year or two) after which they can try to sell again in a market this has hopefully improved. Second, I believe some sellers are either pulling their property off the market, or never putting them on the market, because they don't believe they can sell their home right now for a price that would either: a) make them happy, b) payoff their mortgage, or c) allow them to move into their next home. Finally, after six years of steady increases in foreclosures in our local market, that trend finally reversed itself in 2011. There were 17% fewer foreclosures in 2011 as compared to 2010 -- which means there are fewer bank owned homes coming on the market. We'll have to wait a few months to see, but I think it's quite possible we'll continue to see much lower inventory levels than we saw last year. Receive Updates by Email Recent Articles: There Are Plenty Of Types Of Houses That Exist That Just Are Not Available To Purchase Home Sales By Price Range In The City Of Harrisonburg Are You Compromising On Aspects Of Your Next Home That You Can Or Cannot Change Later? How Much Slower Are The Winter Months In Our Local Housing Market? Rockingham County and New Home Sales Drive Surge in Area Housing Market Find The Balance Between Optimistic And Realistic Home Pricing Room Size Is Difficult To Understand Solely From Real Estate Photos How Much Would You Value Not Having To Prepare Your Home For Showings? One Out Of Four Homes Is Taking Longer Than A Month To Sell Consider The Cost Of Your Planned Renovations When Planning Your Offer
Have any questions? Contact Scott Rogers at 540-578-0102 or scott@funkhousergroup.com
Based on information from the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Association of REALTORS® or its MLS, for the period Jan 1, 2000 through Nov 22, 2024 (unless otherwise noted).
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