With the holiday season in full swing, home buying or listing your home might be the furthest thing from your mind. Yet, homes still get listed in December and home buyers submit offers all through Christmastime and the new year.
A buyer or seller who is in the real estate market during the holiday seasons is MOTIVATED: motivated by whatever in their life makes this month the right month to put their home on the market or make a move.
One of the positive things that have come out of this year’s real estate market is the return of a more balanced real estate market in which buyers and sellers are actually negotiating. During the pandemic housing frenzy, the real estate market was full of ultimatums: home sellers had all the power and demanded contingencies to be removed, inspections to be waived, and buyers to submit over asking price. Now, we see both sides negotiating for repairs, price, close of escrow, possession of the property, and more.
With higher mortgage rates and a slowdown of home buyer demand, we are seeing a softening of these tough tactics. Why is it positive? Because most home sellers are selling their home and then turning around to buy their next property. They are a seller first, then a buyer. All players in the real estate market are connected. Home buyers today have the time during escrow to do inspections and make qualified decisions without being rushed.
REALTOR Survey Results for Recent Sales
In recent sales, 32% of home sellers paid for some or all of the buyer’s closing costs*. This chipping in to help the home buyer with out-of-pocket costs can help with buying down mortgage rates, escrow fees, and other item lines paid through escrow.
What do the experts say? According to George Ratiu, manager of economic research, Realtor.com®:”Our survey shows that the overheated housing market of the past two years, which predominantly favored sellers, is beginning to regain a sense of normalcy, which is welcome news for home buyers. The combination of higher mortgage rates and prices have noticeably cooled demand over the first half of the year…At the same time, even as we are seeing a shift toward a more buyer-friendly market, it’s worth noting that the majority of recent sellers are still satisfied with the outcome of their home sale.”
That last sentence: recent sellers are still satisfied with the outcome of their home sale. Even with home buyers getting a little more than they did a year ago, home sellers are still happy.
Considering buying or selling in 2023? Call (626)609-2130!
Source: https://news.move.com/2022-08-30-Realtor-com-R-Survey-Bargaining-Power-is-Back-92-of-Recent-Sellers-Accepted-Buyer-Friendly-Terms
