Now that the Summer is quickly drawing to a close, the fall selling season is approaching.  Why do we call it the “selling season?”  Well, each year, as soon as the kids go back to school and the cooler weather sets in, two things happen.  First, sellers who still have their homes on the market realize that if they want to sell before Christmas they need to buckle down and get more serious.  Buyers who have not found their dream home feel much the same.  Both parties are much more committed to action in the fall season than they were all Summer. 

However, a busier market definitely does not mean that each individual will be successful. No matter which side of the transaction you are on, you will need to act quickly and smartly.  Here is what we can share with you from our experience.

For sellers, you need to be very realistic about the market.  You must realize that inventory levels are very high and that you have a lot of competition for the buyers that are out there.  Your offering must not only look better than the competition, it must be priced better as well.  Simply being competitive is not good enough because if your offering is not the most attractive, it will not sell.  As well, please realize that you cannot properly price your own house.  You are simply too personally involved to be successful.  Even experienced Realtors get others to price their homes.  My suggestion is to find several knowledgeable Realtors who you can trust to provide a pricing estimate.  Throw out the highest estimate, and then go from there. 

The most important message for sellers is to act now!  September is fast approaching and the fall selling season is short, generally slowing down by mid November.

Buyers also need to be equally realistic in their expectations.  Overall, the market is tilted towards buyers at this point, but you will need to remember that sellers will not sell at any price.  Your purchase price expectation needs to be realistic.  You should expect to buy a house at below the asking price in most cases, but not necessarily at a large discount. The more that you can find out about the seller and their motivation, the more attractive an offer you can put together.  Some houses are already priced very well and you need to work with your Realtor to determine what the real value of each individual house is.  Sometimes a selling price close to asking is a great deal – it just depends.

Here are the current market statistics:

Over the last 30 days, 226 single family houses were sold, up by 1 house from last week.  The median price is unchanged at $555,000. Pricing has been steady, or even slightly rising for the last couple of weeks.  Please keep in mind that we don’t think that pricing for an individual home is really rising.  Instead, we see fewer first time buyers in the market since this summer’s mortgage rule changes.  Since they buy lower priced homes, their absence creates the appearance of the median price rising.  The average house was on the market for 50 days.  The volume of sales is down from the same period in 2011 but well up from the Summer of 2010.

In the last 30 days, 109 condos were sold, down by 9 condos from last week.  The median price is down $16,000 to $250,000. The average condo was on the market for 49 days.

There are now 2,463 houses for sale, down by 1 from last week.  Condo inventory has fallen by 5 to 1123 suites.  Inventory is still very high but has most likely reached its peak for 2012.

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