Homeowners: Now Is A Good Time To Sell Your House

Every month, the National Association ofRealtors (NAR) releases their Seller Traffic Index as apart of their Realtors Confidence Index. In thelatest release, NAR reported that homeowners have been reluctant tosell their houses. This is reflected when broken down by state.Only 11 states have a stable level of seller traffic compared tothe remainder of the country, which came in with a weak rating.

As we can see in the following table, the number of people whomoved last year is half of what the rate was in the 1980s.

This does not come as a surprise, as tenure length (thenumber of years someone owns a home before movingagain) among existing homeowners has increased. It hasrisen from an average of 6 years from 1985 to 2008, up to 9.5 yearsover the last few years. This is shown in the graphbelow:

As we can see, there is a pent-up sellerdemand!

What led to this change inbehavior? Falling prices during the housing crisisled to many homeowners having negative equity in their home,meaning they owed more on their mortgage than the home was worth.Others were able to secure a low interest rate on their mortgageand have not been quick to obtain a new mortgage with a higherrate.

Will this trend continue?

Recently NARreported that “69% of people believe now isa good time to sell a home.”

With a strong economy, low interest rates, and wages continuingto rise, some homeowners will be ready to put their house on themarket and move up to the home of their dreams!

Bottom Line

There is a great opportunity for sellers to take advantage ofthe current real estate market before new inventory comes tomarket. If you are considering selling your house or would like toknow your options, let’s get together today to help youunderstand the possibilities available to you!