News You Can Use: November 2024 by marketing-bhhscarolinas

WITH AMANDA HEATH

As we careen at warp speed toward Christmas, and all of the joyous festivities in between, you might be tempted to take your home off the market or hold off on listing it until after the new year. After all, you’re swamped with cooking, shopping, and decorating, and the last thing you need is a bunch of potential buyers traipsing through your house, right?

Wrong. It’s a huge, huge mistake to either remove your home from the market during the holiday season, or to not put your home on the market if you're getting ready to sell.

Why? The first reason is painfully obvious: Your house can't actually sell if it’s off the market. I'm pretty adamant about leaving a home on during the holidays. Sure, people are busy, but I'd rather buyers see a house messy with baking in the kitchen than miss the house. Let somebody else take their house off the market and miss out. In fact, this time of year can actually be ideal for selling. Here’s why:

Your listing will rise to the top. If homeowners in your neighborhood take a break from the market because they don't want to bother keeping their properties in show-ready condition over the holidays, that makes for reduced inventory. And that means buyers who are actively searching will be more likely to uncover your listing. During the busy spring market, for example, you have way more competition than during the holidays, so you're much more likely to get your home sold when you're not competing with more potential sellers.

Your house looks (and smells) amazing during the holidays.

With festive greenery, the sweet aroma of cookies baking, and a warm fire in the hearth, you've got built-in ambiance meaning you can appeal to buyers’ senses in a way that you can't during other times of the year. With that nice, homey feeling, homes tend to show a lot better during the holidays, while making people feel really good. Plus, chances are good you'll tap into some buyer sentimentality: During the holidays, we tend to feel nostalgic about family, home, and memories. That can cause a nesting instinct to kick in and that often results in a sale.

Holiday buyers aren't messing around. Yes, things typically slow down in the weeks leading up to the holidays. But there are still people actively looking for homes and ready to pounce or those who just entered the market on a short timeline and need to buy fast. The people who are out there looking at homes during the holidays are serious buyers and in areas where you have bad weather, these buyers are going to weather the storms pun intended to visit your property. Potential buyers who take the time to set up home tours during the holiday season are also more motivated to move forward if they like what

they see. These are not tire-kickers just looking around because it's fun; those are all weeded out.

Families often search during school breaks.

Speaking of serious buyers: Relocating families often capitalize on the holidays as a time to move without tumult on the kids. They want to find the right property, have stress -free negotiations, and get their brood settled before school starts up again in January. It's a good time to show your house to people from out of town.

It can be easier to close a transaction in December. Buyers can often get their loans processed and approved faster in November or December than they would in the traditionally busy spring months. It all comes down to the holiday slowdown: Fewer home sales are on deck to process, plus lenders are motivated to close deals before the end of the year. I’ve seen from personal experience that because of the low volume of business, things move quicker with lenders.

The holidays give you a chance to adjust your selling strategy.

If your home's been languishing on the market for several weeks or months (eek!) you might be feeling antsy. Maybe the best solution is to take it off the market and try again after the new year. Fight the urge! You're better off staying the course and using this slow time to tweak your selling strategy. Would home staging draw in buyers? Do you need to tackle that paint job you'd been putting off? Should you reassess your asking price? Generally, the reason a house does not sell is because it’s not priced right, and if it’s been sitting on the market, nothing will change over a 30-day period if you're pricing it the same. You're much better off getting the price in line with where it should be, and leaving it on through the holidays.

REAL ESTATE NEWS

Through the third quarter of the year, we continue to see our overall market remain strong in most areas. The lingering inflation concerns, and economic data have caused mortgage interest rates to settle once again around 6.5% to 7% after seeing a short-term decline. Most buyers have realized that interest rates will not return to the historic lows we saw during and after 2020. While inventory has increased in certain areas it has not been enough to stop the rise in average sales prices that we have witnessed over the past years. The month of September set record high levels for the median listing price for all homes at $329,900 and for homes that went under contract at $304,999. The median price for homes that sold was $290,000 which continues to flirt with the all-time high numbers we have seen over the last six months. We had 889 new listings come on the market in September which is only two more than we had at this same time last year. Our market had a 2.1-month supply of inventory at the end of the month compared to a 1.9-month supply in September of last year. We had 8% more homes go under contract in September of 2024 vs the same time in 2023.

Over the last 12 months there have been 3% less units sold than the prior 12 months, but the total sales volume is up 2% for this period. The average sales price increased by 4% over the last rolling 12 months vs the 12 months prior. The average days on market has increased 13% over the last 12 months and is now at 36 days to go under contract. Resale properties are down 5% in units sold year-over-year and sold volume is up 1%. The average sales price is up 5% for these resale homes. The luxury market, homes priced over $600,000 continue to have the most positive trends. Sales for these homes increased 18% year-over-year. Sales for homes over $900,000 have increased 5% year-over-year but are down 2% year-to-date through September when compared to 2023. New homes continue to do well with 6% more units selling year-over-year. There is currently a 3-month supply of new construction homes actively on the market. Homes that sold with zero price changes spent on average 12 days on the market and sold for 98.8% of asking price. Homes with 1+ price adjustments sold on average in 71 days and at 92.4% of the original asking price. More than 37% of all listings are adjusting the price one or more times to sell which is the most we have seen in some time.

The sales activity by price range and zip code chart compares the current active inventory to the number of closed sales during the last six months. The most active price range remains between $200,000-$300,000 with over 36% of all closed sales and with the average home selling for 98.8% of list price. If you look at homes that closed over $600,00 there were 306 units in the last 6 months which is 7% higher than this time last year. The zip codes with the lowest supply of homes are 27040, 27101, and 27045 with no more than a 1.7 month supply available. The most active zip code continues to be 27284, Kernersville, with 464 closed sales and the average home selling for 99.3% of list price and that is followed by 27295, Lexington, with 343 closed sales and homes selling at 98.7% of list price. 27103 and 27104 are the zip codes with the lowest average days on the market at 23 days and 22 days. Both zip codes also have less than a 2-month supply of inventory available.

The unprecedented rise in average sales price we have seen since the second half of 2020 has begun to cool off, while homes are still seeing positive appreciation it is at a much slower pace. Interest rates will continue to be closely watched but may not see much movement until sometime in 2025. Homes priced correctly and in good condition continue to sell quickly and near asking price. Homeowners who continue to test the limit on pricing are now having to experience the process of doing price adjustments to sell which may bring a less desirable offers with less due diligence money or terms that are not as suitable to the seller. It is more important than ever to watch the market closely as some areas are performing stronger than others. Accurate pricing and realistic expectations will lead to positive results for sellers who are still enjoying record high equity gained in their homes over the last 5 years. We will continue to monitor the market moving forward, please let me know if you need any other information.

Did you know...for every transaction I close, a donation is made to the Second Harvest Food Bank and Samaritan Ministries in an effort to give back to the community.

Greater Winston-Salem (Forsyth, Davie, Davidson, Stokes)

RECIPE CORNER

DIRECTIONS:

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into ½-inch cubes

• 1 whole cooked chicken, skin and bones removed, shredded

• ½ teaspoon salt, divided

• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided

• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, divided

• 4 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and cut into pieces

• 1½ cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

• 4 green onions, sliced

• 1 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish with cooking spray. Spread half of the potatoes in prepared dish. Place shredded chicken evenly on top. Sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, and paprika; half of the bacon pieces; ½ cup of the cheese; and half of the green onions.

For the second layer, spread the remaining potatoes on top of the chicken, followed by the remaining bacon, another ½ cup cheese, and another ¼ teaspoon each of salt, black pepper, and paprika. Pour heavy cream over top of casserole. Cover tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 30 minutes. In the last 10 minutes, sprinkle with the remaining cheese and green onions, and bake until the cheese forms a slight crust and the center is slightly jiggly. Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.