You Can Take Advantage of a Golden Opportunity in Our Market

Our market is starving for home sellers, so if you put your home on the market now, you can sell quickly and for top dollar.

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Did you know there’s a golden opportunity for a certain segment of our real estate market right now? To explain what I mean, I’m joined today by Jenna Barber, our team’s newest agent. Jenna has been with our team for two months, and in that time, she’s already done 50% of the business she did during all of last year—not just in terms of units sold, but also in terms of her total dollar volume. In those two months, she’s also accumulated 35 active buyers, six of which will be buying within the next 30 days. By the time the next 30 days are up, she’ll have already surpassed the amount of business she did in all of last year.

There are so many buyers out there looking to buy in Central New York, but there aren’t enough listings to go around.

There is one problem agents like Jenna are having, though—there aren’t enough houses on the market. There are so many buyers out there looking to buy in Central New York, but there aren’t enough listings to go around. If you’re thinking of selling your home, this means you need to list it now if you want to sell it quickly and for top dollar. We’d love to help you accomplish all your home selling goals, so don’t hesitate to give us a call if you’d like to get the ball rolling. As always, if you have any other questions or real estate needs, feel free to reach out to us as well. We’d love to help you.

Strategies for Buyers and Sellers in the Central NY Market

Today I’m joined by a really special guest—Peter Hunt, the CEO of Hunt Real Estate. Together, we’ll discuss the dynamics of the Central New York real estate market.

Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value report

Buying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for sale

There’s been a big fall-off with respect to the number of closings and transactions in Central New York. It’s really a tale of two cities (or price points): under $250,000, between $250,000 and $300,000, and over $400,000. Under $100,000, Peter Hunt of Hunt Real Estate has noticed a huge drop-off mainly because there aren’t enough sellers. Under $250,000, it’s still the same. So what can be done about that? According to Peter, the bottom line is that because there aren’t enough sellers in the market, there is an overabundance of buyers. The solution is to bring more supply to the market. This is the perfect time for sellers, particularly those looking to trade out their home for another home. There’s probably never been a better time to maximize their equity because of the relationship between buyer demand and seller supply. As supply gets lower, demand gets higher, and prices go up. We’ve seen it all across Upstate New York, and it’s certainly true for Central New York, as well. As a matter of fact, on average, we’ve seen the prices of homes under $250,000 go up anywhere from 4% to 5%. If you’re thinking of selling your house right now, there are more buyers in the market than we’ve had in a long time, and the rate of appreciation at the lower end is going to be greater than the appreciation at the higher end of the market.

When there is a two-year supply of homes like we have in our market, you’ve got to be aggressive on all fronts.

In this market, if you sell lower and buy higher, you’ll be making money on that transaction because it’s appreciating faster and for more money on the lower end of the market, and it’s appreciating slower and for less money the higher you go in the market. In other words, the rate of return for buyers goes up as you buy a higher-priced home because of price compression on the high end and price expansion on the lower end. Just as the number of transactions below the $250,000 price point has decreased due to the lack of sellers, the number of transactions above the $400,000 price point has dropped due to a lack of buyers. We have over a two-year supply of homes between $400,000 and $1 million. As a seller in this price range, what can be done? Peter says the obvious and unfortunate solution is that you may have to compromise on the price. When there are too few buyers in the market, the first seller who brings down their price will be the first one to set a new bar in that marketplace. The good news, however, is that all across the country, prices on the higher end are down—30% in Southern California and more than 25% in Manhattan. We’re currently in a situation where we’re not as bad off as the rest of the country for the high end of the market. This can be an opportunity for those who act now: Set a new bar and be willing to negotiate. I always tell clients looking to attract more buyers that they can either increase the condition of their home or decrease the price. However, we’re not in an either/or market: You need to do both to sell well in the high end. When there is a two-year supply of homes like we have in our market, you’ve got to be aggressive on all fronts. A lot of times, high-end homeowners are less likely to want to improve the home because, in many cases, this is their caste. Even still, it’s our job as professionals to go through that house with a fine-tooth comb and give homeowners every bit of meaningful advice that brings a real return on investment—carpet, paint, kitchen, bathrooms, landscaping, and so on. Improving and upgrading these areas doesn’t cost a lot of money in proportion to the value of the home, but they do bring a return to those who upgrade with the market in mind and actually make the house more sellable. Today’s buyers are a lot fussier, and they know what they want and what they’re willing to pay for. Finally, in our market, it’s important to work with a team that has an intimate understanding of all the competition in the market—that knows the condition of every other house in the neighborhood—so that you can be sure your home is the very best in that price range. If your listing is best-in-class, the other consumers will know it, and so will other brokers. If you or someone you know is looking to buy or sell a home in the Central New York area, or if you have any questions for me, please feel free to reach out to us. We’d love to hear from you.

Navigating the Central New York Housing Market

The slow part of the fall market—from the end of August to the beginning of September—is behind us now. We’re back into the hot fall market when home buyers are back out looking for homes and sellers are happy to see them.

As far as current home values go, in Central New York, in the $250,000 and below component to the Syracuse market, we’re looking at a tight inventory, meaning that there aren’t a whole lot of listings for buyers on the market. This means that it’s a great time to be a seller because buyers have fewer homes to choose from. Homes are pretty much holding their own in this price range.

Home buyers may have to be a little bit more creative, however. They need an agent who has contractors in line that can show them what can be done to renovate any home to make it their own.

In the Syracuse market, a balanced market is about three months’ worth of inventory. Right now we’re seeing between three and four months of inventory, and because of this balanced market, our pricing is pretty stable. We haven’t seen a real uptick or downtick in the market, which is typical for Central New York. This stability is why people like the Syracuse market!

The Syracuse market is balanced right now.

The average days on market for the greater Syracuse area is about 63 days. This can be a tricky figure because some of the houses that have sold quickly were listed on the market as For Sale By Owner first and then taken on by a Realtor. Our team’s average days on market is fewer than 43 days for first-time listings.

There are times when we see multiple offer situations in the Syracuse area and times when we don’t. The fall market is a great time for multiple offer situations because there aren’t as many houses on the market, and home buyers are still looking for homes. What ends up happening is that multiple buyers will make offers on a house that is updated and new to the market.

Because interest rates remain extremely low right now, buyers now have more purchasing power than ever before in Central New York. For anybody looking to purchase a home in the near future, finding a mortgage broker is the first step in the process.

If you have any other questions about the Syracuse market or anything related to real estate, please give me a call or send me an email. I’d love to hear from you!

Old Sellers, Young Buyers Clash in Syracuse Market

Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value report

Buying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for sale

A lot of people have been asking me, “What’s the one big thing that’s happening in Syracuse real estate?"

The one big thing happening right now is that we have a big chasm between buyers and sellers. The average buyer is about 37 years old, while the average seller is about 67 years old. So what’s the big chasm?

The chasm is that the average seller bought a home, fixed it up, and made it theirs. They may have put new floors in or made other changes to make it theirs. That’s the way they want to sell their house; the hardwood floors might need to be refinished or the countertops might need updating, or the bathrooms might need renovating. They don’t want to do it for the buyer, but rather have the buyer update the home their way. That’s what they had to do, after all.

Buyers today are considered “entitled” because they want to have things done right for them. The 45 and under buyer really wants to have a house that’s already updated for them, because they don’t have the time, money, or effort to make the updates.

The average seller might not want to put in granite countertops for fear of choosing the wrong color, for example, but the buyer looks at this as a lack of effort to sell. The average buyer would rather pay more for the same house if it’s already updated.

We’re seeing that houses that have professional photos, staging, and updates are selling so much faster than those that aren’t. Buyers are disappointed in the inventory for this reason. What we’ve got to do is coach the sellers to do some of the updating, and coach the buyers to understand that, with the help of a contractor, there’s not much work to be done. Refinishing floors, installing granite countertops or replacing a bathroom vanity doesn’t cost tens of thousands of dollars like some think.

We can help sellers with updating and staging, and we can help buyers get set up with contractors or anyone that can help with a new home. If you have any questions, give me a call or shoot me an email and let’s talk soon!

Don't Miss Our Special Event this Winter!

Selling your Central New York home? Get a free home value report

Buying a Central New York home?  Search all homes for sale

  

Today, I just wanted to let you know that we will have a special event between Christmas and New Year's.

Not only will this event be a lot of fun, but we're also working with a great charity, the Make-A-Wish foundation. We won't tell you too much about the details now, but here's a hint: Star Wars!

Mark your calendars and be on the lookout for any updates. We look forward to seeing you!