Let’s Talk Real Estate – September 2020
In Southern Oregon, you hear a lot about a summer selling season for real estate and you also hear that it’s best to list your home in the winter when there’s less competition. Both statements have a ring of truth, and there’s a lot more behind the numbers.
The year generally starts out slowly, and you can see below that last year, 718 existing homes sold in the first quarter, taking an average of 51 days to sell. (Interesting note, 2020 has started with less than 800 existing homes for sale). It is true there wasn’t much for sale in the first quarter. You can see below that we averaged less than 1,000 homes for sale, and that low inventory didn’t help sellers or buyers. Even with low inventory, only 24% of the homes sold, taking an average of 51 days to sell.
Then comes spring and summer when the majority of sellers list their homes, and the buyers have the greatest selection. Many sellers don’t want to list their homes until the grass turns green, the blossoms bloom and the sun comes out to stay. By far, we have our greatest selection in spring and summer, which is good for buyers, and we have the most buyers which is good for sellers. You can see that over 1,100 homes sold in both spring and summer and buyers had over 1200 homes to choose from. Bottom line: about 30% of all homes for sale in spring and summer sold, and they sold, on average, in 43 days.
Lastly, fall rolls around and a lot of homes that were for sale, have sold. We still have a large number of buyers, but the buyers have less homes for sale to choose from. Last year, existing homes for sale dropped to 783 by December, and a record 37% of them sold in about 48 days! For buyers, there isn’t much selection, but for sellers, fall is when sellers have the greatest chance to sell their house.
Being that the largest percentage of homes listed sell in the 4th quarter, you might think that fall is the best time to list your home for sale. That’s true, but, there is one more equation. The price of the home being listed is a huge factor in determining how long it will take to find the right buyer. If a home is over $500,000 or $600,000, the average number of times you need to show your home is huge. Southern Oregon is a small area and we have a thriving real estate market, but higher-end homes are a niche and it takes time to find the right buyer. In Jacksonville and Ashland, it takes over 26 showings before you get an offer. This is because homes in Jacksonville and Ashland average well over $400,000 where the buyers are limited. In many cases, it takes six to eight months to find the right buyer and it will take six to eight months before you have 26 interested buyers.
So… fall is the best time to sell your house with the least amount of competition and the most amount of buyers per listed home, but do remember if your home is over $500,000, it still may take a lot of showings before it sells.
