5 Reasons To Consider Selling Your St. Louis Home This Summer

The latest Buyer Traffic Report from the National Association of Realtors (NAR) shows that buyer demand remains very strong throughout the vast majority of the country. These buyers are ready, willing and able to purchase… and are in the market right now! More often than not, multiple buyers are competing with each other to buy a home.

2. There Is Less Competition Now

Housing inventory was reported as 2.3 month supply in April, which is well under the 6-months needed for a normal housing market. (Check out my post on “Months of Inventory”). This mean there are not enough homes for sale in St. Louis to satisfy the number of buyers. This is good news for home prices. However, additional inventory could be coming to the market soon.

There is a pent-up desire for many homeowners to move, as they were unable to sell over the last few years because of a negative equity situation thanks to the ‘Great Recession.’ Homeowners are now seeing a return to positive equity as real estate values have increased over the last two years. Many of these homes will be coming to the market this summer.

Also, builder’s confidence in the market has hit its highest mark in over 11 years. Experts are predicting that new construction of single-family homes will ramp up this summer, which we’ve been seeing in St. Louis for the past year including the new subdivision in Eureka and Wildwood.

The choices buyers have will continue to increase. Don’t wait until all this other inventory of homes comes to market before you sell.

3. The Process Will Be Quicker

Fannie Mae anticipates an acceleration in home sales that will surpass 2007’s pace. As the market continues to strengthen, banks will be swamped with loan inquiries causing closing timelines to lengthen. Selling now will make the process quicker & simpler. According to Ellie Mae’s latest Origination Insights Report, the time to close a loan has dropped to a new low of 42 days, after seeing a 12-month high of 48 days in January.

4. There Will Never Be a Better Time to Move Up

If you are moving up to a larger, more expensive home, consider doing it now. Prices are projected to appreciate by 4.9% over the next year, according to CoreLogic. If you are moving to a higher-priced home, it will wind up costing you more in raw dollars (both in down payment  and mortgage payment) if you wait.

You can also lock in your 30-year housing expense with an interest rate around 4% right now. Rates are projected to increase in the next 12 months.

5. It’s Time to Move on (with Your Life)

Look at the reason you decided to sell in the first place and determine whether it is worth waiting. The reality of any market, whether the stock market or housing market, is that it’s almost impossible to perfectly time (otherwise we’d all be insanely rich). You and I will never know when the perfect moment to sell will show itself.  So, with that in mind, you should consider what’s going on in your life and how staying in or selling your house fits in with your goals.

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