Your Once-in-a-Lifetime Opportunity to Sell is NOW!
If you’ve been thinking about selling your house in 2022, this is truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. When you sell anything, you always hope for strong demand for your item and a limited supply. That maximizes your leverage when negotiating the sale. Home sellers are in that exact situation right now!
Demand Is Very Strong
According to the latest Existing Home Sales Report from NAR, 6.18 million homes were sold in 2021. This was the largest number of home sales in 15 years. The Chief Economist for NAR explained:
“Sales for the entire year finished strong, reaching the highest annual level since 2006…With mortgage rates expected to rise in 2022, it’s likely that a portion of December buyers were intent on avoiding the inevitable rate increases.”
Demand isn’t expected to weaken this year either. The Mortgage Finance Forecast published by Mortgage Bankers’ Association (MBA), calls for existing home sales to reach 6.4 million homes this year.
Supply Is Very Limited
The same sales report from NAR also shows the months’ supply of inventory just hit the lowest number of the century:
“Total housing inventory at the end of December amounted to 910,000 units, down 18% from November and down 14.2% from one year ago (1.06 million). Unsold inventory sits at a 1.8 month supply at the present sales pace, down from 2.1 months in November and from 1.9 months in December 2020.”
The reality is, inventory decreases ever year in December. That’s just how the typical seasonal trend goes in real estate. However, the following graph emphasizes how this December was lower than any other December going back to 1999.
Sellers Have Maximum Leverage
When there’s strong demand for an item and limited supply of it available, the seller has maximum leverage in the negotiation. In the case of homeowners who are thinking about selling, there may never be a better time than right now. While demand is this high and inventory is this low, you’ll have leverage in all aspects of the sale of your home.
Today’s buyers know they need to be flexible negotiators that make very competitive offers, so here are a few areas that could tip in your favor when your house goes on the market:
- Competitive sales price
- Flexible closing date
- Potential for a leaseback to allow you more time to find a home
- Minimal offer contingencies
If you’re thinking of selling your home this year, now is the optimal time to list it. Let’s connect to discuss how we can help you leverage your home selling goals! 206-866-5079