3 Reason to List Your House This Fall

Many sellers feel that spring is the best time for selling a house because buyer demand increases at that time of year. This is true, however, the fall and winter have their own advantages. Here are three reasons to sell your home now:

1.  Buyer Demand Continues to Outpace the Supply of Homes For Sale

According to the National Association of REALTORS’ (NAR) Foot Traffic report, there are more buyers out in the market right now than at any other time in the past three years. Interest rates are still historically low compared to years past. This is good for buyers today and it’s good for buying your next home. It is predicted that they will rise by 2016. The graph below shows the significant increase in foot traffic experienced this year compared to 2014.

2. Less Competition

Right now inventory IS up in our region. There was an unusually high surge of new listings in Spring 2015. However, they do start to slow down in August. Also, many spring sellers take their houses off the market if they do not sell by the end of summer, which was the case this year due to high inventory. The good news is that sales prices are still maintaining (give or take) and home sales are still up in our area. As the fall moves on and winter nears, the number of new listings will continue to drop. The choices for buyers become more limited.

3. The Process Will be Quicker

One of the biggest challenges during the 2013 into 2014 housing market was the length of time from contract to closing due to bank requirements and document processing. It’s not necessarily harder to qualify for a mortgage, it’s just that more verification is now required. Furthermore, with the steady appreciation of home values over the past three years, banks have been inundated with both purchase and refinancing loan requests. Both of these tend to slow in the winter cutting timelines and frustration to both buyers and sellers.