SANTA CLARA, Calif.,
April 26, 2021 /PRNewswire/
-- The lack of homes for sale has hit a crisis-level in recent
months, igniting fierce competition, bidding wars and driving
prices to an all-time high -- but there's hope on the horizon for
weary buyers, according to new survey data from
realtor.com®. Findings show 10% of homeowners are
planning to put their home on the market this year and an
additional 16% are planning to list in 2-3 years.
Furthermore, 58% of the homes that owners plan to list this year
are valued below $350,000, which
should provide some relief for first-timers who have had trouble
breaking into the market. Of those who plan to sell this year, 63%
have already listed or plan to list within 6 months and 76% have
already taken steps to begin the process. Realtor.com®
surveyed 657 potential home sellers the week of March 29 via HarrisX.
"In a typical year, we see about 8% of the nation's homes hit
the market, and we're expecting about 25% more this year," said
George Ratiu, senior economist,
realtor.com®. "This signals that many homeowners who
were wary to list during the pandemic are getting ready to do so,
and this much-needed inventory -- especially for starter homes --
will begin to relieve buyers' challenges in a very competitive
market. Despite this good news, we were in an inventory shortage,
for both new and existing homes, well before the pandemic and COVID
made it worse. It's going to take a while for us to get back to a
more balanced 'normal' even with an increase in new construction on
the horizon."
The housing market's catch-22
Of those who are
planning to put their home on the market in 2-3 years, a quarter of
respondents said they aren't listing this year because they can't
find a new home within their price range, creating a catch-22 for
inventory. Other reasons that homeowners aren't planning to sell
this year include: not sure where they want to move (23%); the
current economic climate (22%); logistics of buying and selling at
the same time (22%); and concerns about showing a home during the
pandemic (20%).
What it will take to move the needle
Nearly all
potential sellers (91%) looking to sell in the next 2-3 years said
that they would be more likely to list their home if they knew they
could time buying and selling perfectly. Additionally, 37% of
homeowners with plans to sell in the next 2-3 years said that if
they knew they could make a lot of money on their home sale, they
would be motivated to list sooner. And with the median home listing
price currently up 18.7% over last year, many homeowners are likely
to see a significant profit if they list now. Other factors that
could prompt future sellers to list sooner include: more affordable
homes on the market (33%); not having to handle the logistics of
buying and selling at the same time (29%); not having to prepare
the home for sale (27%); and if the health risks of COVID-19 were
lower (24%).
"With home prices at historic highs, now is a great time to sell
a home and many first-time sellers might be surprised to learn how
much equity they have," said Rachel
Stults, deputy editor for realtor.com®. "For
consumers who are worried about the stress and planning involved,
there are a number of resources available to help with
everything–from perfectly timing buying and selling to removing the
hassles of doing repairs and staging."
Home sellers can take advantage of realtor.com® tools
such as local market stats and the My
Home portal, to see what their home is worth, how much
equity they have and potential proceeds from a sale. Those who
haven't sold a home recently might be surprised by how many selling
options are available. With realtor.com®'s Seller's
Marketplace, consumers can compare different selling methods
including instant offers, sale-leasebacks and listing with an
agent.
Methodology: Realtor.com® commissioned HarrisX
to conduct a national survey of consumers. The total sample size
was 3,998 adults. The survey was carried out online. The sampling
margin of error of this poll is ±1.6 percentage points. The figures
represent a national view of US adults. Results were weighted for
age, gender, region, race/ethnicity, and income where necessary to
align them with their actual proportions in the population. In
addition to the population of US adults, an oversample was
collected for potential sellers. The oversample was weighted to
align with the original sample of US adults. There are 657
potential sellers with a sampling margin of error of ±3.8
percentage points.
About realtor.com®
Realtor.com®
makes buying, selling and living in homes easier and more rewarding
for everyone. Realtor.com® pioneered the world of
digital real estate 20 years ago, and today through its website and
mobile apps is a trusted source for the information, tools and
professional expertise that help people move confidently through
every step of their home journey. Using proprietary data science
and machine learning
technology, realtor.com® pairs buyers and
sellers with local agents in their market, helping take the
guesswork out of buying and selling a home. For
professionals, realtor.com® is a trusted
provider of consumer connections and branding solutions that help
them succeed in today's on-demand world. Realtor.com® is
operated by News Corp [Nasdaq: NWS, NWSA] [ASX: NWS, NWSLV]
subsidiary Move, Inc. under a perpetual license from the National
Association of REALTORS®. For more information, visit
realtor.com®.
Media Contact
Nicole
Murphy, nicole.murphy@move.com
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SOURCE realtor.com