In case you’ve been living on another planet for the last few months, the housing market is hot! And home buyers are struggling to find a house.
The supply of available homes in Atlanta has been limited due to a number of reason:
- Builders have not been keeping up with demand after the last big real estate pullback.
- Covid caused potential sellers to hold off on putting their homes on the market.
- Rising interest rates have prompted some homeowners to hold onto their homes because their loans are at interest rates lower than they could get on their next home loan.
The supply of homes is currently two months, which is considered a seller’s market. It may be many months or even years before supply grows enough to change this to a buyer’s market.
Atlanta’s population is growing and will continue to do so for decades to come. Newcomers are adding to the current residents who are trying to buy a home.
What This Means to Sellers
Sellers are currently “in the driver’s seat” as buyers are resorting to what might be called desperate measures to acquire a home. Homes are selling faster, with average days on market only reaching 17 days. And the average number of offers that home sellers receive is currently 4.8. That’s up from a low of just 2.2 offers in 2019. But this is an average number of offers. In some cases, sellers are receiving dozens of offers, and on rare occasions over 100 offers on some homes!
Not only are home sellers receiving more offers, but also they are receiving more “generous” offers, which takes many forms:
- Because supply outstrips demand, prices are naturally moving up. Average home prices are up 19.1% in the last 12 months. It’s not uncommon for homes to sell for many thousands of dollars more than asking price in today’s market. Some offers may include an escalation clause that will automatically bid a higher price if other offers are higher.
- Reduced or no contingencies. Normally, when a potential buyer makes an offer on a home, they will include contingencies for a number of things: appraisal/loans, inspections, selling their current home, etc. Many buyers are removing these contingencies from their offers in hopes that their offer will rise to the top of the list of offers that a seller will consider.
- Buyers are agreeing to close more quickly. By reducing the time until closing, buyers hope their offer will be accepted over others that need more time to close.
- Higher earnest money deposits. Buyer who wish to be taken seriously are offering larger deposits with their offer.
- Because sales are happening more quickly, sellers may find themselves without a place to go when their house sells. Some buyers are anticipating this, and are allowing the seller to remain in the home for some period of time after the closing.
- And more!
As buyers get more desperate, their offers are getting more creative and generous.
If you are thinking of selling your house, this is a great time to move forward. Because interest rates are now moving up, there may be a slight slowing of buyers. However, their is still unmet demand, and selling now is still easy to achieve for most homeowners.
If you are ready to consider your options, connect with Kurzner Group. We can help you understand your home’s value and decide the best way to get it sold. We sell hundreds of homes each year, and would be honored to sell yours as well.
