Homeowners Scramble to Sell While They Can Still Get Top-Dollar
By Melissa Borgerding
THE ERICKSON TRIBUNE
This spring, sales of existing houses fell after five years of a record-breaking real estate boom, the Associated Press (AP) reports. With interest rates on the rise and mortgages topping-out at the highest level in nearly four years, the once robust real estate market is showing signs of slowing down.
What does this mean for you as a homeowner? This summer may be your last opportunity to sell at top dollar.
House Sales Slide
Sales of previously owned single-family houses plunged by an estimated two percent nationwide in spring, reports the National Association of Realtors. Here in the Midwest, the numbers are even more troubling, with sales falling by 3.7 percent. High energy costs, relentless property taxes, and soaring interest rates are just a few of the factors behind the drop.
As the real estate boom draws to an end, Chicagoland homeowners are bracing for the impact. If the market’s downward trend continues then, very soon, homeowners could see their houses sitting on the market longer and selling for less.
Evidence of Market Downturn
Some homeowners are gambling that this downturn is only temporary. They are choosing to tighten their belts and ride out what they hope is nothing more than a bump in the road.
Many homeowners aren’t willing to wait another five, ten, even twenty years for the next big boom. They’re taking action and selling this summer while they can still get top dollar.
A Selling Season
Fortunately, summer is a great season for selling. Buyers are eager to find a house before the kids go back to school in the fall. Plus, houses just tend to show better in the warm weather when the lawn is green and sidewalks clear of ice and snow.
Solution to an Uncertain Market