A month later than usual but just like a switch being turned on, our area housing market has warmed up significantly. Existing-home sales rebounded strongly, with the largest month-over-month gain since December 2015, according to the National Association of Realtors® (NAR). Three of the four major U.S. regions saw sales gains, while the Northeast remained unchanged from last month.
Total existing-home sales – completed transactions that include single-family homes, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops – shot up 11.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.51 million.
"A powerful combination of lower mortgage rates, more inventory, rising income and higher consumer confidence is driving the sales rebound," says Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist.
If you are thinking of listing, please keep a few things in mind. Begin de-cluttering now. Follow Marie Kondo's lead, touch something once, if it does not spark Joy, thank it and send it on its way to someone else. walk outside your home and enter by the front door. What do you see? Does it need fresh paint, a few flowers? A new doormat? There is much competition out there and today's buyers have little to no appetite for fixing homes up. To some, changing a paint color is reason enough to move on to another property. Remove beloved personal pictures and objects as buyers stop and look and will remember the photos long after they remember the house. Please, if you have pets, pick up the pee pads before a showing and never, ever use a candle to disguise an odor. Two things have had guaranteed success for my sellers- Jo Malone Lime, Basil and Mandarin diffusers and an upside down St Joseph statue.
I hope that working together sparked joy in your life as it sparked joy in mine!
Congratulations to Paula S and Bruno and Susan V!
Mugsie
