Selling For Top Dollar Now??

This week’s housing market update:

Are you trying to figure out where the real estate market is going? It’s the beginning of August 2020. We’re all still leaving the house with masks on and trying to figure out how we’re moving forward. In the meantime, our real estate market has really been going crazy for both buyers and sellers. So I’m going to try and break it down for you by giving you the data and then giving you the big picture.

So first, last week there were 4,305 homes on the market and 1,017 went pending. We’re going through all of our inventory in about one month. When I checked it again today, we’re down to 3,811 active homes on the MLS that are not modular, mobile homes, or trailers. Out of the 3,811, the median home price has jumped since March (since the beginning of the pandemic) from $590,000 to $635,000, which is a significant amount. However, it’s not as much as interest rates have dropped proportionately. So you’re still better off if you’re a buyer, so buy now if you can.

Let’s talk a bit about what that inventory is doing. The average days on market in all of our inventory that went pending last week was 1,017. The median days on market, eight days, and the average list price was $850,000 and the median list price was $635,000. So there are by far quite a few homes on the market that are over a million. Out of all of the homes in the market over a million, there’s 204 that went pending last week. Average days on market for a home over a million is 15 days. So if you were living in a larger home and thinking that, “Maybe I should be downsizing because maybe the home is too big for me, the kids have left the house.” Now is the time because move up buyers are trying hard to move up.

So days on market, 15, average is only 36. And the average purchase price, $1,856,000. Now for homes that are under a million, the average days on market, only seven days and the average price was actually up in the 800s. Now just a couple quick additional facts in case you’re thinking, “Well, maybe I want to do something a little off beat.”

If you wanted to go for land, there’s only 1,088 land listings in this whole county, which right now is actually very low for land too. Median days on market for a sale is 72. So a little under three months, it’s pretty quick for lands because there’s a lot of things to check out when it comes to buying vacant land. And the average list price for a land that sold in pending is 421,000.

Now onto the data that I want to give you, and that’s two to four units. There’s only 201 of them on the market in the entire county. So all the time I’ll have people say to me, “Well, maybe I should buy a home with a helper unit.” Literally there’s only 201 of them on the market today right now, and the median days on market, it’s showing 45, but that includes four units in traditional apartment areas. The median price is $1.2 million and the average is actually up at $1.55, so $1,556,000.

So what’s the bottom line here? People are saying, “Well, does that mean we’re at a cliff or we’re at a high point?” No, what this means is that we’re seeing inflation on our dollar. We have Fiat currency. Those of you who know me have heard me talk about this.

Here’s a perspective for you, when George and I first built our home out in East County in the early 1990s, our loan was for 343,000 whopping dollars. And our mortgage, taxes, insurance, everything was around $3,100, $3,200 a month because we had an 8.5% interest loan.

Today, if you’re putting 5% down and you’re buying a home that’s 600,000, your PITI, your principal, interest, taxes, insurance, and your private mortgage insurance, because you’re putting a minimal amount down is still that same 3,390. So it’s very comparable.

So what’s happened? Inflation. So that’s the answer. So for sellers, it’s a great time to sell to get your top dollar, especially if you were thinking about moving out of state.

For buyers, it is an amazing time to stretch your dollar and be able to get into the home that you wanted to get into or the area you wanted to live in, closer to the beach, closer to those hiking trails. Maybe get the horses or dogs or things that you wanted because you can spread out a little more. Looking forward to helping you, as always give me a call. You got my number it’s shown below. Talk to you soon.