This September, as is typical for this time of year, we saw a marked increase in activity in the housing market. More homes were listed for sale and, with that, more buyers were out attending open houses. The Sold stats for September largely reflect activity from the summer, but we still saw a continuation of the recent trends. House prices continue to increase - homes were listed for 13% more than September 2020 in Bedford and Winchester. Demand clearly justifies the increase - sold prices are up more than 10% in Carlisle, Concord and Lexington, and sale prices continue to surpass list prices in most of the towns we serve. Time is still of the essence if you are looking for a home as days on market continue to shorten - especially if you are searching in Acton, where homes are going under agreement in under 2 weeks on average! However demand is still outstripping supply, and inventory levels have not yet caught up with Fall 2020. Fewer homes sold in September this year vs 2020 (although Acton buyers can take some comfort as we saw a 40% increase in homes sold!) and overall market volume is down year over year.
So with a steady increase in sale prices and continued demand, why are people still hesitant to put their homes on the market? One of the main comments we hear from potential sellers is that they don’t want to put their current home up for sale until they secure their next home. Unfortunately, because of the demand, that is taking longer than expected, and the market is experiencing a bottleneck - fewer homes to buy leads to fewer sellers putting their homes up for sale. That’s where the Barrett Sotheby’s International Realty White Glove service can help! Our Buy Before You Sell program can help break that deadlock, enabling you to move forward with the purchase of a new home without worrying about selling your current home first. You can also lock in the current low interest rates on your next mortgage, and compete with other buyers whose offers may not be contingent on the sale of a home. The concierge service can also take care of preparing and staging your current home for sale, maximizing the sale price potential. Another hesitation from sellers is the worry that their home is not ready for sale, and wanting to have their home looking at its best to realize the maximum value. Our pre-listing prep service - Refresh, Renovate and Stage - can help in this situation, working with local vendors to get your home repaired, decorated and staged to its full potential, with no payment required until after closing.
If this sounds like your situation, talk to one of our experienced agents about the White Glove program. They can walk you through the process and help you decide whether it is right for you.
