by Brandon Scott
Maybe winter isn’t coming fast enough, and I don’t know about you but I’m totally OK with that. One of the crazy abnormalities that we are seeing in this 2020 year is that existing home sales are going through the roof. Yes; in the month of September the newest analysis by the National Association of Realtors (NAR) found that, across the country, home sells have seen a 9.4% increase compared to the prior year. In fact, reports show that home sales have grown for the fourth consecutive month in September across the four regions of the United States. If you regularly keep track of my blogs and videos you know that this is no surprise for us living here in the DC, Virginia, Maryland region.
Let me set the stage, for real estate and real estate agents the month of September comes with a slowdown. Here’s the rationale behind this seasonality, families have already started to go back to school and individuals have already purchased homes and settled in for the colder months. But record low interest rates continue fueling buyers in the marketplace, including a push for vacation properties and the need for individuals to have more space to work from home, and to manage their children. I know a lot of people are thinking that the real estate market has slowed down but let me contextualize this for you more, the month of September nationally represents 103 straight months of year over year gains in the real estate market nationally.
In fact, if we really began to think about it, the next wave of COVID-19 is going to spur a new wave of buyer sentiment. More individuals will begin to flood the market that were unsuccessful in purchasing a home during summer. Plus, those that could not find the “right home” and positioned themselves in a month-to-month lease will be actively looking. And finally, those that had decided to wait, anyway, until post-January to start looking may just move up their timeframe. So, there shouldn’t be an expectation that this seller market is going to change anytime soon. This is also a great clue for anyone that is looking to sell a home but is unsure about making that decision because of the current pandemic. The numbers do not lie, presidential candidates do; buyers are entering the housing market, they are being safe and they are purchasing homes way above asking price.
In the sage words of Kenny Rogers, “…know when to hold’em…know when to walk away and know when to run….Count your money once the dealings done.”
For the month of August and September, first time homebuyers were responsible for 33% and 31% of the sales in those months. Investors or second home buyers accounted for roughly 12% to 14% of the buying activity in the market, which was largely unchanged from years past. For those of you looking for a deal with a foreclosure or short sale, those properties represented less than 1% of the overall purchases; don’t get your hopes up that you’re going to find a deal like many people found in 2007 or 2008.
The decision matrix for buyers has shifted away from apartment style living and those that are finding themselves working from home for the long-term are seeking space to call their home to ride out whatever else may be thrown our way.
Brandon Scott is a licensed real estate agent in Washington, DC, Maryland and Virginia. His license hangs with Coldwell Banker Dupont-Logan, DC. He’s been involved in the mortgage finance industry for the last 16 years in various fields. You can reach him by email at [email protected]. Subscribe to his YouTube Channel at RealTeaDMV