A Seller’s Market
The headline at KAKE ABC.com cries “It’s a Seller’s Market.” “Driving down any neighborhood street in Wichita, you’re bound to find a ‘for sale’ sign. But realtors say those signs aren’t staying up long.”
“Now you’re gonna have to probably look a little bit harder. You may see a house that comes on the market in the morning and then by 4 o’clock it’s sold,” Stephanie McCurdy, Assoc. Broker for Keller Williams Hometown Partners, LLC, said.
That’s because it’s a seller’s market in Wichita and surrounding towns.
Maybe, it’s no longer A Seller’s Market
There’s an interesting article in Zero Hedge, authored by John Rubino via DollarCollapse.com titled “US Housing Bubble Enters Stage Two: Suddenly-Motivated Sellers.”
He says when you see headlines like the one above and others like this:
- San Diego home prices spike
- Home Prices Spike Near Murrieta, SoCal Median Hits Record Level
- Orlando Home Prices Spike 10 Percent Annually in April
- Another month, another record for Denver home prices
it’s a signal that Phase Two of a typical US housing bubble has begun. Sellers read these headlines. They note that prices are now above what they could have gotten in the last bubble. The memory lingers of how badly, during the subsequent bust, they’d wished they’d sold at the peak. They realize that they’ve been given a second chance to cash out, move to a cheaper, less-frenetic place, and coast on their real estate riches. So they call a realtor and list their house. As do a bunch of their neighbors. Supply, out of the blue, jumps.
That may be happening now. NBC notes, “The most competitive, tightest housing market in decades may finally be loosening its grip. That could put pressure on overheated home prices. The supply of homes for sale in the second quarter of 2018, the all-important spring market, rose at three times the rate of the same period in 2017, according to Trulia, a real estate listing, and research company.”
The inventory jump was the largest quarterly improvement in three years and could be signaling a slight thaw in today’s housing market. But it is just a start.
Stage Two is not A Seller’s Market
Stage Two’s deluge of supply sets the table for US housing bubble Stage Three by soaking up the remaining demand and changing the tenor of the market. Deals get done at the asking price instead of way above, then at a little below, then a lot below. Instead of being snapped up the day they’re listed, houses begin to languish on the market for weeks, then months. Would-be sellers, who have already mentally cashed their monster peak-bubble-price checks, start to panic. They cut their asking prices preemptively, trying to get ahead of the decline, which causes “comps” to plunge, forcing subsequent sellers to cut even further.
Sales volumes contract, mortgage bankers, and realtors get laid off. Then the last year’s (in retrospect) really crappy mortgages start defaulting, the mortgage-backed bonds that contain their paper plunge in price, et voila, we’re back in 2008.
Stage Two has not arrived in all places. The areas of the country that have experienced huge gains in prices are there, like San Diego, San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Miami, and New York.
If you have been waiting for the right price, or just thinking of selling, why not get prepared, First, call us or ask for FREE information about How to Sell Your House Fast. Second, figure out where you want to move.
Terra Firma Property Solutions, LLC is a professional, full-service real estate solutions firm.
We buy and sell properties throughout the greater Kansas City area. We specialize in buying distressed homes, then renovating and reselling them to home buyers and landlords. Terra Firma Property Solutions: excited to be part of the economic rejuvenation of Kansas City and its surrounding areas.
Call us today at (816) 866.0566
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