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Fall Real Estate Projections: What to Expect
Posted by: CENTURY 21 Northwest
Date: September 17, 2018
Posted by: CENTURY 21 Northwest
Date: September 17, 2018
There’s no doubt that some times of the year are better for real estate than others. Unfortunately, you don’t always get to decide exactly when you need to sell your home. If you are selling between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, you’re going to deal with a market that’s a bit different than the market of the more traditionally sales-friendly times of the year. Fall real estate is its own unique animal, though, and understanding the projections for the Fall as well as what you might expect from the season in terms of sales potential is a good way to prepare to put your home on the market.
There are a number of myths and rumors about fall real estate, many of which can scare off potential sellers and buyers. While there are definitely some real changes to the market in the period between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, it’s not all bad. In fact, the changing nature of the real estate market has made making a sale during this time of the year far different than it has been in the past. If you’re curious about selling your home, you might want to get a better look at what the Fall really might bring.
The good news for those trying to sell homes is that Phoenix’s real estate market is still very hot. If you’ve got a home in the right neighborhood, you can still expect to fetch a stellar price for your property. While there are always exceptions to this, the general Phoenix area is still doing incredibly well. This is a seller’s market, even if some future projections do call for the market to cool down in the near future. It seems that the change in weather isn’t doing too much in terms of the sales forecast quite yet.
In fact, Phoenix seems to be a very good example of how the country’s market is going to look in terms of fall real estate. Inventory is very tight, prices are on the rise, and buyers are still moving forward with their plans to purchase new homes. In fact, many fall real estate projections are actually far stronger than they would typically be during this time of year. It feels like the region is being set up for a fantastic end-of-year sales environment, something upon which you cannot always depend.
While the forecasts do look good, there are issues that are likely to impact Phoenix as the season goes on. Rising interest rates will impact how much buyers have to spend on their potential homes, so you may not be able to count on rising prices for too much longer. There are also issues with trade and labor that could impact job growth, though this doesn’t look to hit Arizona as hard as it might hit some other states. In fact, the Phoenix region does look like it’s relatively insulated from some of the issues that might impact the rest of the country.
With the forecast in mind, you should start considering what you should be looking at during this fall real estate season. The summer buying season has come to an end, after all, and you’ll need to start looking out for what’s really going to go on during this season. Fortunately, there are a few basic things you can keep in mind even before you start looking at whether you are really ready to put your house up on the market. These factors are true across the country, but they have a great deal of importance to the Phoenix area in general.
There does tend to be a bit of a slowdown when it comes to housing sales after Labor Day. In today’s market, it’s not as bad as it once was but it may be noticeable. You’re going to start looking at more buyers on the higher and lower ends of the income scale, as many individuals with children have likely either made an effort to move before the school year begins or will wait until the year ends. Younger buyers who don’t have children and child-free older buyers tend to have more of an ability to buy during the fall months.
It’s also important to note that there’s a good chance that you’re going to be looking for sales with a quick turnaround. Many buyers are going to want to move before the holidays get started, so closing quickly is a must. This means making sure that your house is in good shape and that there are few areas on which a buyer could request alterations. Closing periods tend to be closer to the average length in early September but might start speeding up as the winter gets a bit closer.
As you might imagine, there are serious pros and cons to trying to sell your home during the fall. While this time isn’t generally considered to be the best time to buy a house, there are some solid selling points that you should know – as well as some real drawbacks of which you should be aware.
The good news is that fall real estate usually brings with it less competition. If most buyers push to sell their homes during the traditionally profitable seasons, you’ll have fewer people with which to compete. The big bonus here is that the Phoenix area already has a fairly limited housing inventory, so you’ll have even fewer comparable houses on the market than normal. This is also the season for motivated buyers – people want to get into their homes before the weather changes and the holidays hit, so there’s a good chance that you’ll be able to get less haggling and close much more quickly. As a particular bonus to those in Phoenix, it’s also a time in which the weather is finally cooling down – something that encourages more walk-ins and puts more eyes on your home during open houses.
The cons are fairly significant, though. There are fewer buyers, both due to the season and due to the fact that parents of children generally try to avoid moving during this part of the school year. While there is less competition for your home, the competition that is there is often much more motivated to sell and will be much quicker to try to undercut your prices. Remember, you may be competing with homes that have been on the market since the early summer and thus find that these homes are dragging down your potential sales price. Fall’s weather can also be problematic, with storms often derailing plans and causing damage to your best attempts at improving your curb appeal.
The Fall can be a good time to sell your house. Phoenix’s market is strong and the nation’s ongoing real estate boom really lessens the blows that tend to follow the cooler weather. If you’re getting ready to sell your home, you can feel fairly comfortable with the fall real estate projections to get ready to put it on the market now. If you still have questions about whether you are ready – and whether your home can sell, make sure to visit the CENTURY21 Northwest website and arrange a home evaluation today.
Related Blog: Metro Phoenix Housing Market on the Rise!
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