Tri-County Suburban REALTORS and Showing Time have released their January 2021 Local Market Insight report for single family homes in Delaware County Pennsylvania. The report relies on Bright MLS statistics. If you would like more information about this or any other County or any specific municipalities in the Delaware Valley, please contact me or visit my web site, AndrewWetzel.com. I am only a phone call, an email or a text away! I respond promptly to all inquiries.
The market continues to be affected by the pandemic and resulting economic impact. The weather has also been a factor. However, generally speaking, the results in many areas are encouraging and, as always, your experience may differ depending on your location and how you have been personally impacted. As I always say, the decision whether and when to sell or buy Real Estate is a personal one influenced by a number of lifestyle factors and external variables. The pandemic typifies that. Some have not been deterred while many others have decided to delay their plans to sell or buy.
The report compares current year-to-date results to one-year ago, same time period. This report only covers one month so I would not over-react to the information. As with all Real Estate statistics, two things are true. First, the performance within individual zip-codes can and will vary significantly from the overall County. Real Estate is local and results can vary greatly from neighborhood to neighborhood and even block to block. There is no such thing as a “national” Real Estate marketany more than there is a national weather forecast so, whether you may be thinking about selling or buying, please contact me for details about your areas of interest. I can provide current information and keep you informed about the evolving market as well as provide you with the knowledge and insight to help you decide what works best for you.
My second point is that, unfortunately, all Real Estate statistics involving sold data are stale. This is especially true if you are relying on Internet valuation models which use recorded data rather than up-to-date MLS information. Even then, while a sale may be reported as having settled or closed today, the real question is when was the offer negotiated? Typically, sales can take 45 to 60 days to close so the market today may be different from when the offer was presented and negotiated. Up-to-date information, even if not perfect, is important!
As far as the statistics, there were 534 new listings in January 2021 compared to 586 in January 2020, a decrease of 8.9%. The average number of active listings in January 2021 was 441 compared to 994 in January 2020. Low inventory levels continue to affect the market. There were 544 closed sales in January 2021 compared to 438 in January 2020, a 24.2% increase. The median selling price was $240,000 in January 2021 compared to $202,000 in January 2020, an increase of 18.8%. What effect did the large decrease in the number of properties being listed and available have on the market statistics? It likely created some anxiety resulting in multiple offers, perhaps well over asking price, and buyers taking other actions to make their offers more competitive. These include buying “sight unseen” and/ or waiving inspections. The result was a huge increase in selling prices along with a large decrease in the Days on the Market (DOM) and the “Sold to List Price” ratio. Do we really have an inventory problem or pent-up demand? Time will tell. Again, these numbers vary throughout the County: the underlying data shows a wide range of results in all categories among the 49 different municipalities in Delaware County.
Generally speaking, the effects of what is happening remain to be seen. Some buyers may come to regret a hasty decision to get a property under contract at “all costs”. Buying “sight unseen”, especially without inspections comes with a risk. Sellers and their agents need to consider how to manage such offers as they may have appraisal issues and/ or be more likely to result in buyer remorse. Given the expense and complexity of a typical Real Estate purchase, buyers and sellers need to fully understand what they are doing and what can go wrong. Even with our property disclosure law in PA, many sellers either do not know about underlying issues with their properties or forget to disclose them. Whatever your feelings about property inspections, they can provide important information to a buyer. Getting a contract signed is only the first step to completing a Real Estate sale.
What about the properties that did not sell? Many came off the market and remain off the market. As the pandemic has evolved, some properties did come back on the market but many have not. Did owners delay, change or give up their plans? Buying activity has generally been strong but some sellers are reluctant to allow showings or may have issues holding them back. Given the statistics, are people making an informed decision or reacting to what they “think” is happening in their local market? A brief conversation may be very helpful if you have any questions about selling or buying.
Anyone thinking about selling or buying needs to understand their local market and decide how to react to it. The effects of buying and selling remain for years as does inaction. At some point things will return to whatever is “normal”: how many will regret not taking action? These are important decisions and likely require the knowledge and insight that an experienced, trained and educated professional can provide.
I tell my clients that I cannot guarantee that their house will sell if it is on the market but am fairly certain that it won’t if they keep it off the market. Anyone trying to sell now may have less competition and more offers to consider. Buyers may have more competition and fewer houses to consider. Hiring an experienced, trained and educated professional is more important than ever.
No matter how good the market may appear, every house will not sell. Houses may get showings without generating offers unless buyers think they are priced within the range of their perceived “worth”, whatever that means today. Most property listings whose contracts are canceled or allowed to expire have asking prices considered high for their local market and/ or they were poorly marketed, meaning that some buyers and agents may not have even known that a property was available to look at or purchase. Some buyers may make an attractive offer just to control the process only to have remorse later as inspection results are revealed or they see another property they prefer.
Regardless of the amount of inventory, some buyers may not be willing to look at houses priced high compared to the rest of the market: why try to negotiate a price down when other similar properties are available at more competitive prices or others offer more for the same price? Many sellers open to negotiating their price will never get the chance. I will be happy to discuss specifics with you.
Statistics aside, what are you planning to do? Real Estate is generally a long-term investment unless you are looking to fix and flip it or planning to move within a short period of time. There are always opportunities out there. As with the stock market, it is very difficult to pick the best time to make a move. All you can do is get the best available information, determine what is in your best interests and then start the process. Getting started is easy once you take action.
If you want or need to sell any type of Real Estate, now or in the future, whether you tried and did not succeed before or are planning for the first time, it is never too early to start the planning and preparation. Please do not wait for what you think is a better or the best time to start. Buyers look all year long and can only see and buy properties that are available to see. Based on what we experienced in 2020, is waiting for Spring something you would consider? If so, now is the time to start planning.
There is no time for inexperience, empty promises or false expectations!
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