Over the years, the two most common desires of home sellers I have met with are to sell their home for the highest possible price in the shortest amount of time. While the agent you choose to work with definitely impacts the outcome (no, not all agents are created equal😀) market conditions are something no agent can control and are going to play a major role.

Traditionally, spring is the time of year most sellers choose to put their home on the market as it represents the start of the usual busy season as buyers emerge from winter hibernation and activity picks up. This year has been anything but usual which is why fall might be the best time to sell if you’re hoping to sell for the highest price in the shortest amount of time. Continue reading below, or watch the following video, to learn the reason market conditions currently make this fall a favorable time to sell your home.

Home prices, like any other product or service, are highest when demand is high and supply is low. The lower the supply the faster a given item will sell (think about how fast a new shipment of toilet paper or Clorox wipes in Costco sells out.)

While the economic downturn caused by the pandemic has been devastating to some industries, real estate isn’t one of them. As Mark Fleming, Chief Economist for First American reported;

“Since hitting a low point during the initial stages of the pandemic, the only major industry to display immunity to the economic impacts of the coronavirus is the housing market. Housing has experienced a strong V-shaped recovery and is now exceeding pre-pandemic levels.”

Buyer demand has shown no signs of fading thanks to historically low mortgage interest rates and an increased desire for a home better suited to today’s changed environment. ShowingTime, which tracks the average number of buyer showings on residential properties, recently reported that buyer showings are up 61.9% year-over-year. They also say;

“Normally, real estate activity begins to slow down in late summer, but this year it has peaked in July, August, and into September.”

The Big Challenge

The biggest challenge the housing market faces currently is the lack of inventory. Purchaser demand is so high the market is running out of available homes for sale. Just last week, realtor.com reported;

“Since the beginning of the Covid pandemic in March, nearly 400,000 fewer homes have been listed compared to last year, leaving a gaping hole in the U.S. housing inventory.”

While home sales are skyrocketing, the inventory of available homes for sale is dropping dramatically as this graph by the National Association of Realtors shows; (September number have not yet been released)

Nationally, the amount of available inventory has fallen to approximately a 3 month supply (6 months of supply is considered balanced.) Supply is even more constrained here in our local market as shown by the current numbers for Frisco and Prosper.

Year-over-year the median sales price is up 7.3% in Frisco and 8.7% in Prosper.

The number of homes for sale is down 61.5% in Frisco and 69.8% in Prosper year-over-year. This represents 1.5 months of supply in Frisco and 1.3 months of supply in Prosper.

Pending home sales in Frisco are up 30.2% and 38.6% in Prosper year-over-year.

Average days on market are 20 in Frisco and 29 in Prosper.

What Does This Mean for Potential Sellers?

Sellers will always be able to negotiate the best terms and sell for the highest prices in the shortest amount of time when demand is high and supply is low. That is exactly the situation we are experiencing in the local market currently. Anyone thinking of putting their home on the market might not want to wait.

Curious to know how much equity you have in your current home? Find out instantly, for free, using my Home Equity Tool.