Week in and week out at our open houses, we hear buyers say they are just scoping out the market and waiting to buy until Spring. It’s true, Spring is the busiest time of year in the real estate world so there are more listings on the market, but there are also more buyers! So, does that mean it’s the right time to buy or sell?
More buyers means more competition, making other times of year ripe for a good deal on a house.
While every year is different, Spring tells to be more of a sellers market with multiple bids and escalations for properties in popular areas that are priced right. Summer, Fall and Winter are typically buyers markets, in which you are rarely in competition with other buyers. To illustrate the shift in advantage, we took a look at the average absorption rates in our area (Northern Virginia) for 2016. An absorption rate is the percentage of properties on the market each month that go under contract. In our area, an even market is typically around 40-45%.
Above 45% is typically a sellers market and below 40% is typically a buyers market.
January: 37% = Buyers market
February: 49% = Sellers market
March: 56% = Sellers market
April: 52% = Sellers market
May: 50% = Sellers market
June: 45% = Sellers market
July: 41% = Even market
August: 41% = Even market
September: 35% = Buyers market
October: 38% = Buyers market
November: 41% =Even market
December: 42%= Even market
With rates as low as they have been in a while, now really is a great time to buy.
