As predicted local housing inventory rises heading into season in 2018. This cycle repeats each year. One of the things we are tracking is the moment buyers turn on and start gobbling up these properties. Each year we tell people it takes until about January 15th or so for buyers to turn on.
So far, we haven’t seen it yet. We just pulled fresh numbers as of January 15th and compared them to October 2nd, another data point we have saved. We have some from earlier in year as well, and they look similar to October 2nd, so there is nothing magical about that date.
In each data point, sold and new pending sales are similar to new active listings. What’s different about now is new listings have been outpacing sold properties about 3 to 1 and new pending sales 1.6 to 1. At any other time, this would be alarming to see a sudden trend like this.
Because we know the New Year often starts off like this, we’re not sounding alarm bells, or false missile alerts. We have enough of those lately. We are telling sellers that have had their home on the market awhile that new listings are coming, so if their home failed to sell before the run-up in new listings, it may face difficult headwinds now. When selling a home, it’s always important to gauge the headwinds, and as we write this the buyers haven’t turned on just yet.
As the season goes, so goes the rest of the year many times. The fundamentals for Florida are strong as an improving economy, new hiring, pay raises, and lower taxes is a good recipe for the housing market. Add in the fact that Florida looks good compared to other states with the new tax code and we could see more net migration from other high tax states going forward.
When there are few homes for sale, pricing it correctly and getting it out on the market can sometimes be enough. When listing inventory begins to rise, pricing becomes more crucial as does marketing.
It’s not enough to just list it on MLS and hope other agents show it. You must reach the buyer. The buyer has more choices, and often the buyer tells their Realtor which homes they’d like to see. This takes increased advertising.
When we target buyers, we use several media. We use traditional print like the newspaper, yellow pages and mail-outs as they still work. We also use advanced online techniques to reach buyers. Online we can identify buyers from up North that are looking to purchase down here in SW Florida. We can also identify people in Southwest Florida that are interested in purchasing, then serve up ads likely to meet their criteria.
If you only market one way you’re not reaching all the buyers. Of course, you must have a hefty budget as well to reach as many as possible. We had a Realtor from Baltimore call us this past week wondering where we got our database of buyers. He thought perhaps the state of Florida had one we bought into. I told him no, it’s a large database the Ellis Team has garnered from extensive online and print advertising.
They say if a politician wants to win, they must speak directly to the people. In real estate, if you really want to sell your home, you must market directly to the buyers. That’s what our marketing does.
If you’re thinking of selling your home, you should call us and see for yourself. Once you see it, you realize there is no better way to reach your buyer.
If you’re a buyer, you should call us too. We have access to All the listings, not just the ones you see on certain websites. You can reach us at 239-489-4042 or visit www.LeeCountyOnline.com to see All the listings.
Good luck and Happy House Hunting!
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