Well, if you’ve been waiting the last few years for the best time to buy a home – you’ve already missed it! And I’m willing to bet that if you are looking for the best time to sell, you will look back a year from now wishing you hadn’t waited.
There are two components that affect a monthly mortgage payment – home prices and interest rates and both are expected to go up this year. In addition to interest rates rising, inventory is shrinking in most price points so this has created a sellers market.
Of course, if you listen to the national media or even our local Twin Cities media, you will likely hear how hot the real estate market has been the last two years. My comment on this hype is yes, there are certainly markets that have performed well but there are also segments of the market that have really struggled to keep up the last two years.
So let’s take a closer look at the local numbers comparing 2015 to 2016…
Overall, in the Twin Cities market home sales were up 26% last year. In Washington County the numbers were similar – home sales were up 27% and in Woodbury home sales were up only 20% comparatively.
One of the most eye opening segments of the local market is the West Lakeland, Lake Elmo, Afton market – in these areas sales doubled in 2016!
Now when you first hear that number that’s a huge increase right?
Well, not everything is what it seems. This is mostly due to the new construction happening in the Lake Elmo area.
In fact, currently in the West Lakeland, Lake Elmo, Afton market there is actually a two and a half years supply of homes for sale over $800,000! So it’s important to understand the market conditions in your homes price point.
New construction in the $300,000 – $500,000 price range has been a game changer in this area, hence the huge increase in home sales numbers for 2016.
I want to give you a closer look at how these numbers break down locally in Woodbury:
As I previously mentioned, home sales were up roughly 20% in Woodbury. The segment of homes that saw the greatest increase in sales in Woodbury was in the $200,000 – $400,000 price point. We went from 667 homes sold in the $200k-$400k range in 2015 to almost 800 homes sold in 2016 in that same price range. That’s an additional 10 buyers per month that moved through this price point in the Woodbury market in 2016! My advice to you – If you have a home in this price point and you are thinking of selling, now would be a great time to do so! There is less than a one-month’s supply of inventory currently on the market in the $200,000 – $400,000 price range Woodbury.
I wouldn’t wait for the so called “spring market”…there will be much more competition making it more difficult to sell. In fact, as I stand here today, there are only 200 homes for sale in Woodbury? I expect that to increase to over 300 homes in the upcoming months.
Now that’s the good news…the bad news is that when you jump into the upper-bracket market in Woodbury, (which I consider to be roughly $700,000 and above) sales slipped from nearly 30 homes sold in 2015 to 15 homes sold in 2016. That’s a 50% decrease! Believe it or not, there is currently a 1 years supply of homes for sale over $700,000 in Woodbury so now more than ever, it’s very critical that you work with an experienced luxury broker that knows how to market a luxury home.
The housing market is mostly affected by supply and demand and the Bottom line is demand is high right now and supply is low in most price points so it’s created a sellers market.
If you’re curious about your homes value please contact me. I am happy to provide you with a confidential consultation on your homes current market value and to help you determine your equity position.
