Springtime is usually the traditional time that home buyers and home sellers are coming together as the flowers bloom. As I said, traditionally; but the last two years have been anything but traditional. The average home appreciation in the state of New Jersey over the last two years approaching over 30%, inventory shortages are creating bottlenecks for buyers, and sellers are finding it difficult to find a reasonably priced home to move to. This is May 1st in terms of the real estate market coming to somewhat of a standstill. Plenty of buyers, not so many sellers and interest rates continue to rise.
According to realtor.com, April 10th to the 16th is the best time to list a home in 2022. That may have been true in 2019 but this is in no way a traditional market. Home prices, according to their research, are $39,000 higher than they had been back in 2021 and there are 29% more buyers viewing listings online.
The experts, those who run the numbers, are trying to match 2022 with trends that have been in existence from 2010 to 2019, but right now there is a shortage open inventory, and affordability is now the new big mitigating factor.
According to realtor.com, homes during this week sell 13.2% faster than the average week. But again, inventory shortages and high prices are having their impact, and historical evidence no longer appears to be as relevant as housing shortages dominate everyone’s mindset.
One thing is for certain: listing price for a home is currently what sellers are now used to getting plus a few thousand dollars more. The average single-family home in the month of January 2022 sold for 101.3 percent above listing price. And the days on market sell on an average of 40 days. You want to talk historical, let’s look at the average percent of price received back in September 2018, which was then 97.8%. And back in September 2018, the months supply for homes was at a six-month supply with the average days on market coming in at 63 days.
This is clearly going to be a very interesting spring, as to whether buyers will become completely impatient and spend more than they should for houses that they can’t afford, or will they consider waiting out this market for another year?
According to realtor.com for the New York, New Jersey, and the Newark areas, March 20th is the best week for a home to be listed.
If you have any questions about this information or title insurance, please contact Ralph Aponte: 732.914.1400.
Counsellors Title Agency, www.counsellorstitle.net, founded in 1996, is one of New Jersey’s most respected title agencies, serving all 21 New Jersey counties with title insurance, clearing title, escrow, tidelands searches, and closing and settlement services for commercial or industrial properties, waterfront properties and marinas, condominiums, townhouses or residential single family homes. Counsellors Title also features its own Attorney Settlement Assistance Program™ [ASAP], which is an individual resource customized to fit the needs specifically of real estate attorneys, including, Documentation, Preparation, Disbursement of Funds, Attendance at Closing, HUD Preparation or Post-Closing Matters.