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Noticed today on the 'net that a number of homes in my sub-division have come on the market this week at very aggressive prices. More power to 'em if they get the price they're asking (and good for the other homeowners).

But, why would this be happening at the end of the season when a good portion of the buying pool (families with school-aged kids) have stopped looking or have already found a house?

To give an example (using hypothetical numbers), let's say the comps sold earlier this summer for $100k. These houses are coming on the market now at $130k. Weird!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jewel,

Have noticed the same phenomenom, Jewel, WRT the timing and new listings - although probably not with such drastic (30%) price discrepancies.

Thought about it previously and wondered if it's from the combination of previously reduced inventories, i.e. sellers holding properties off the market, plus historically low interest rates and the slightly improved sales figures (by some measures, anyway) recently released regarding the past few months.

JMHO and a few rambling thoughts -

P.S. Don't know about your area but many regions still have numerous additional f/c's and short sales to work through.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: SurfNow,

Why do you think the buyer pool ends just with the start of school? I for one sold many homes to folks at all times of year outside of summer. Circumstances change, both for buyers and sellers, and changing school isn't the dreaded trauma many people make it out to be. Kids can and do adapt to change. Good qualified buyers are out there year around and the competition for a home isn't as great at the peak buying season.

One thing I noticed in our old neighborhood was the lack of inventory on the market. All of the well maintained homes are snapped up. While the older ovepriced homes seem to sit on the market.

Agree, mamas - didn't hear anyone use the term "ends" when describing the buyer pool.

One thing, however, the changing seasons might imply a different buyer pool, e.g. older dinks or young professionals - and therefore, a different inventory mix may result in lower dom's and more and/or faster closed sales at improved prices.

Sellers who must sell do so at any given time of the year, accepting the market price for their properties. Others either hold out for higher prices or pull their homes off the market until circumstances change.

JMHO - more rambles.

Of course buyers purchase at every time of the year. It's also true that there is a well known "season" where more realty transfers than other months of the year. In my area, that season tends to start in the spring and taper off in late August after school begins.

I'll be interested in seeing what happens to the properties that have "come late to the party" and are priced more than the comps that sold a couple months ago. If any close, I'll post back.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jewel,

If anyone here is following what Berhake did today perhaps this could be the explanation as to the houses that have come into the market.
apparently he is planning to provide about 40 billions to the banks a month to make mortgages more affordables and for buyer to be easier to buy.
Is in the news, I am sure that the banks must have known this before or at least suspect it.

quote:

Originally posted by rker321:
If anyone here is following what Berhake did today perhaps this could be the explanation as to the houses that have come into the market.
apparently he is planning to provide about 40 billions to the banks a month to make mortgages more affordables and for buyer to be easier to buy.
Is in the news, I am sure that the banks must have known this before or at least suspect it.

HA! I'd like to think that buyers/sellers know all about QE3 quantitative easing, but I highly doubt it. Just today, when touring a listing for my realtor friend, I asked her why so many homes have gone on the market this month: she said that it's just the normal ebb and flow of activity.

Her newest sellers have one school-age kid left in the household(their older son is away at college). The listing went live today. The sellers are looking to downsize to a smaller home with less property and plan to stay in the same town so that their kid's schooling won't be disrupted. A lot of the listings are like that; buyers and sellers in the same community moving around for various reasons.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aychihuahua,

One realtor told me that 'football season' is active...cause lots of ladies are out looking while their hubbies are watching the games! She said this is especially true at the start of the new year and after the holidays.

We closed on our last two houses right after Christmas. When we bought this one, it was tough because by the time I was able to fly out in Dec, some of the ones I liked online had apparently been taken off the market for the holidays.

We got a contract on the one we needed to sell 2 days before Christmas! We had some decorations up and several boxes in corners of rooms.

We may be selling during that season again this year so I'm hoping for serious buyers to be out!

Just came back to post that none of the aggressively-priced "Johnnie's" are under contract yet. Now, the open houses are starting, which are a mark of desperation in this area. The sellers haven't budged on their price, though, so I think they'll still have ownership for a good while yet.

I have heard, through the neighborhood grapevine, that the sellers of the listing closest to my house have next to no wiggle room on their price (they bought at the height of the market originally).

In our neighborhood in VA, a couple of our neighbors did the same thing when all the other houses sold. They did sell - but probably not at the listed price. They didn't have any competition, and the neighborhood was a good one that people wanted to live in.. I think the houses sell for what the market will bear, and sadly, it doesn't matter why you might owe on it, or how much money you put into it that you won't get back (OK - maybe that was just us, but we enjoyed ALL the upgrades, and spending the money there is better than going to bars - right?????).

90+ day update here: All of the "Johnny's" are still on the market plus one add'l home is now listed as a FSBO (it's the most accurately priced of all the listings, but probably 10% too high).

One of the other homes dropped in price by a whopping 30%, another by 15%, but the rest have stayed firm.

Chances are, had the homes been carefully priced to start, they might be pending or closed by now. Painful lesson for those homeowners.

We'll see what the new year and fiscal cliff situation brings.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jewel,

Virtually all the homes in my area (three different ZIP codes) in the 200-250K range that were listed in Oct/Nov have sold within a week or two. The higher priced ones, generally, are still lingering, even with price drops.

Of course, the winter weather is not a factor in Central Texas, so homes move briskly here if priced right.

Then there's the home in the heart of a trendy Washington, DC neighborhood that was listed in late November for $337K where the average home goes for $500K. In less than two weeks, the listing received 168 multiple offers and sold for nearly $761,000. http://www.washingtonpost.com/...?wpisrc=nl_headlines

Ay -- where would you say that the 200-250k homes are (very low end, low end, mid-range, etc) in comparison to the majority of home values your area?

Love the story about the DC home sale frenzy. Sounds like that realtor/homeowner really understands the market conditions in their area!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Jewel,

quote:

Originally posted by Jewel:
Ay -- where would you say that the 200-250k homes are (very low end, low end, mid-range, etc) in comparison to the majority of home values your area?

I'd say mid-range. Average home price is $287K.

Finally! One of the "over priced" houses has a sold sign on it now -- about 5 months on the market and after dropping the list price 15%. I don't know the closing price yet, but wouldn't be surprised to learn another few thousand was knocked off to close the deal.