Conventional Wisdom: Overturned

As conventional real estate wisdom has it, sellers should “wait until spring to list your house because there are no buyers during the winter.” Perhaps that was true at one time. If it was, it is no longer. Realtor.com just released a survey of winter buyers that was conducted last month and which shows some very different information. Here’s what they said…

-          When asked about the biggest challenges when searching for a home during winter, the most common answers were that there is not enough inventory within their price range (45 percent of respondents), and that there is not enough inventory on the market (34 percent). The biggest complaint was that there are not enough homes for sale.

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-          Among the top reasons consumers are looking to buy a home in winter? 24 percent revealed that they were unable to buy a house during spring or summer. The truth is, there weren’t enough homes for sale this spring and summer to satisfy demand. These buyers wanted to be in their next home by now and are way behind schedule. How would you rate their motivation?

-          If that’s not enough to make you reconsider waiting until spring, consider that 19 percent of those surveyed are planning to purchase this winter using all cash.

What we have then is a lot of buyers who couldn’t find a home during spring or summer, who are complaining there are not enough homes for sale during the winter, and a fifth of them are cash buyers. So if you’re considering selling soon, when would be a good time to do it? Probably right about… now.