Insatiable Curosity: A Realtors Biggest Headache!!!
Ouch! Being curious can be very interesting but it can also hurt my brain. At the beginning of each month I like to ponder local real estate statistics. Because my practice focuses on North King and South Snohomish Counties, I spend time thin-slicing some of the general numbers to try and find out what’s really going on out there in the marketplace. Today I wanted to look at the September sales figures for King County. I think you’ll find this interesting:
Of the 1283 single family homes that sold in September, it’s interesting to note that the average days-on-market is 72 days. Frankly, I find this quite positive in very difficult times. If I were a betting man, I’d say these sellers and their agents did a good job of gaging the market. In order to examine this more closely, I chose to focus-in on those homes that sold from $400,000 - $449,999. I did this because the price is close to average for King County. This particular price-point sold in 64 days which, even in a good market, is a respectable number. So what happened? Here are some details:
1) Only 57% of the homes in this category actually sold in the 64-day time period. 84% of the remaining 43% took well over 100 days to sell.
2) Only 6% (25) of the 1283 sales sold for 100% of the list price. On average, homes sold for 94% of list price. 25 of the homes sold for under 90% of list price.
3) A surprising 95% of the sold homes were re-sale.
Based on these findings, I believe it’s more important than ever for homeowners to think carefully about selling their homes in the current market. There is obviously a group of buyers out there who have money to purchase a home. How you go about pricing and marketing your home are extremely important. Also, if you choose a real estate agent to help you sell your home, make sure he/she knows your local market. Make sure he/she has a concrete plan to “correctly” market your home. Finally, make sure the potential agent has your best interests in mind.
