Thinking of Selling Your Home? You May Want to Do It ASAP

There's very little competition today, but that could soon change.

There's a reason home sellers have had the upper hand in the housing market for the past several years. Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic began, real estate inventory has been low. And any time you have a situation where there's not enough supply of a given commodity to meet buyer demand, its price tends to soar.

Meanwhile, housing inventory is still sitting at a pretty low level. The National Association of Realtors reports that as of the end of January, there was about a 2.9-month supply of homes available. To put that number in context, it usually takes a 6-month supply of available homes for there to be enough inventory to satisfy buyer demand, and for neither buyers nor sellers to enjoy a notable advantage in the market. 

What all of this means is that now is a pretty good time to sell your home. But if you're serious about doing so, don't wait to get it listed. Doing so could mean ending up with a lower sale price.

Don't wait for the competition to increase

Housing inventory may be low right now in general, and to be clear, we're unlikely to go from a 2.9-month supply of homes to a 6-month supply in a couple of months. But spring tends to be a popular time in general for sellers to list their homes. And, well, spring is almost here.

So if you're looking to sell your home, now's a good time to do it. If you list your home at a time when there are only three or four comparable homes in your neighborhood, you're likely to get a higher offer than at a time when there are 14 or 15 similar homes for buyers to look at. 

Plus, we don't know if mortgage rates will rise this year or not. Consumer borrowing rates are expensive across the board these days due to recent interest rate hikes on the part of the Federal Reserve. If mortgage loans get increasingly expensive to sign, that could result in a drop in buyer demand. And that could lead to a lower sale price for you. So you're better off listing your home now, before mortgage rates rise above their current level.

How to land on the right listing price

Because housing inventory is still low, you may be able to command a higher sale price for your home than you would've four or five years ago. But because mortgages have gotten expensive to sign, buyers aren't paying the same sky-high prices they were in 2021, when borrowing rates were really low. 

If you're not sure how to price your home, enlist the help of a real estate agent. While working with an agent will mean having to pay them a commission once your home sells, in exchange, you'll get expert advice and great insight on the local housing market. And your real estate agent can no doubt do all of the legwork associated with selling your home so you don't have to.