Is it still a buyer’s market in this area? 

The answer is “yes” and “no.” It depends. Where do you live? In which price range are you buying or selling? Frustrating, right? I think it’s frustrating only if you are trying to sell a house.  

Almost anyone will tell you that “real estate is local,” but when there is so much negativity in the news and local predictions are indicating that there will be another 6% drop in real estate values it doesn’t matter much that Basking Ridge is a prime location with terrific schools, easy access to NYC and in some cases, inventory levels** that are as low as five months. 

There are some price ranges that are moving very quickly. If you are lucky enough to be selling a condo in Basking Ridge chances are you won’t have any problem. But a multi-million dollar home? Not so easy. Interestingly enough, what I consider to be the middle of the range options (homes currently listed between $300,000-$600,000) is seemingly very challenged, with homes languishing on the market for quite some time.

If you are hoping to sell your house in today’s market you need to cater to the buyers; even in the price ranges that are boasting strong absorption rates** and in towns that don’t typically struggle with buyer’s markets.

How can you do that?

1. Price your house right. Houses that are priced right sell within 30 days. In August, I wrote about the Multiple Listing Search research I did to support that statement. I still believe it’s true. And buyers need to realize that a house that’s priced right will sell. It might even spark competition among potential buyers — even in today’s market and especially in a desirable neighborhood such as Basking Ridge.
2. Ensure that first impressions are perfect. This is critical — it’s critical that your photos are perfect and show a realistic picture of the home. And it’s critical that whatever the buyer sees first when he or she walks into the home, or even drives up the driveway and walks up the walk, there isn’t something that might cause a buyer to stop and think, “Hey, what else is wrong?” A buyer makes a decision to consider a home (not whether to buy it, but whether it makes the potential list at all) within the first few minutes of being there. Make that first impression count.
3. Be flexible with showings. Don’t make it hard for a buyer to see your home. I understand that you still live there and that it’s hard to keep it neat and to skedaddle at the whim of every buyer…but you never know who is going to be “the one.”
4. Keep the house clean and clutter free.  And make sure it smells nice and is brightly lit. Some buyers can see past these things — but why take the chance?
5. Neutralize décor. Remember, you are selling a house that will be someone’s home. You want to keep the pool of potential buyers as large as possible. Why allow the right buyer to rule out your home because they don’t like the wallpaper?

In short, step out of your role of homeowner and put yourself into the role of the buyer. One of the hardest things to do is to walk through your house as if you don’t live there. But you have to do that. Try to think about it this way – you aren’t selling your home, you are selling a house that is going to be someone else’s home. I do not subscribe to the theory that you have to remove all personal belongings. I don’t like to show homes that are completely sterile, but I do believe that people need to be able to see themselves in the home!  And that might mean that you need to change some things in ways that you won’t be comfortable with.  Buyers are being especially critical and picky — because they CAN be now. If they don’t buy your home, it is likely that there are five others they can look at next weekend. 

Today’s market is not so frustrating for the buyers because the market still is very much favorable for them. Interest rates are low, and inventory (the availability of houses) in most cases is still high, offering today’s buyer lots of options.

Interest rates are currently in the high 4-percent range. My favorite mortgage rep. is predicting that rates will hit the mid 5-percent range by summer as increased confidence in the equity market creates increased yields from fixed income assets such as bonds and mortgage backed securities.  And, given the typical seasonal trends in real estate, we can expect that more houses will come on the market each week between now and the middle of April.

There are currently 129 houses on the market in Basking Ridge and there have been 14 contract sales in the last 30 days. This translates to an inventory level of 9.2 months; a clear buyer’s market.  I think it’s important to break this down by price range – because that’s how buyers shop. 

** Note: Inventory levels, while measured in months, do not indicate how LONG it will take to sell a particular house.  Inventory levels (also known as absorption rates) indicate how long it would take to sell the current inventory of homes given the number of sales there were in the preceding 30 days.