Some Homes Are Selling In Less Than Two Weeks

February 2013
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
	1	2
3	4	5	6	7	8	9
10	11	12	13	14	15	16
17	18	19	20	21	22	23
24	25	26	27	28

Posted on February 9, 2013 6:50 am by Scott Rosasco

Westchester Home Sale Prices Up 14% Over Last Year

In what can only be described as a remarkable turnaround in the US housing market, homes in some parts of the country are going from active status to accepted offer status in an incredible two weeks or less. This, coming on the heels of a housing market which had typical selling periods of 6 months or more. The primary driving force behind this phenomena is an extremely low inventory of homes for sale. Many sellers appear to be waiting out the bottom of the market, preferring to sell their homes when values go up. Concurrently, banks remain very tight on financing, requiring a borrower to have a virtually blemish free credit history and FICO scores of 740 and above. This has resulted in super high quality buyers converging on the few remaining houses for sale. Not only is this resulting in fast marketing periods, it is also starting to drive prices up, for reasons of supply vs. demand.
Even here in the Rivertowns, I am experiencing multiple bid situations with buyers winning out, based not only on the highest offer, but also on the best terms available, sometimes with down payment amounts of 50% or even all-cash purchases. If you bought your home 5 years ago you will still perhaps be losing money, based on your original purchase price, but any available homes for sale are also equally devalued. If you were thinking of selling this could be a great time to cash in on this unique set of circumstances, particularly if you were planning on downsizing to a smaller home or moving out of the area. Interest rates remain at historic lows and assuming a good credit history, your chances of getting a great value in another purchase would seem ideal.
More information on this trend as it relates to the Westchester housing market can be found in the BHG Rand 4th Quarter Market Report. Additionally, an interesting story on this trend in the US housing market can be found at Bloomberg News: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-05/homes-sell-in-two-weeks-with-low-supply-for-spring-buyers.html