Top 5 cities for selling a home
Where home sales are taking off now
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Homes that sell in just a few days. Bidding wars. Above asking-price offers.
They may sound like relics of the pre-housing-bust era, but for many homeowners,
they’re a reality marking the beginning of a new seller’s market.
Existing single-family-home sales increased 9.1% in January from a year prior to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.92 million units, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors. Median sales prices hit $173,600, up 12.3% from a year prior—marking the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.
Other conditions are also working to sellers’ advantage. The number of homes for sale is declining. Roughly 1.47 million properties nationwide were listed on the multiple listing services, the databases where listing agents maintain their postings, in January, down 16.5% from a year prior, according to Realtor.com. With fewer homes to choose from, more buyers are engaging in bidding wars that often push the purchase price of the home above the asking price. Homeowners are also spending less time trying to sell: Homes were on the market for a median 108 days in January, down 9% from a year prior, according to Realtor.com. The data suggests that sellers are beginning to gain more leverage. “It’s a fairly broad-based phenomenon,” says Stuart Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Existing single-family-home sales increased 9.1% in January from a year prior to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.92 million units, according to data released Thursday by the National Association of Realtors. Median sales prices hit $173,600, up 12.3% from a year prior—marking the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year price increases.
Other conditions are also working to sellers’ advantage. The number of homes for sale is declining. Roughly 1.47 million properties nationwide were listed on the multiple listing services, the databases where listing agents maintain their postings, in January, down 16.5% from a year prior, according to Realtor.com. With fewer homes to choose from, more buyers are engaging in bidding wars that often push the purchase price of the home above the asking price. Homeowners are also spending less time trying to sell: Homes were on the market for a median 108 days in January, down 9% from a year prior, according to Realtor.com. The data suggests that sellers are beginning to gain more leverage. “It’s a fairly broad-based phenomenon,” says Stuart Gabriel, director of the Ziman Center for Real Estate at the University of California, Los Angeles.
After waiting on the sidelines for years, would-be sellers in some markets
are encountering favorable conditions. In particular, homeowners in markets that
were hit hardest by the downturn, including Arizona, California and Florida, are
seeing some of the biggest gains. For instance, the median sales price of
existing single-family homes in Miami was $213,000 during the fourth quarter of
2012, up 15% from a year prior, according to the NAR. In Sacramento, median
prices hit $193,200, up 18% from a year prior.
Sellers in such markets aren’t likely to unload their home at prices that surpass the boom years, but they have a shot at getting higher offers from buyers than they would have one or two years ago. For some owners, recent price gains may provide an opportunity to sell a home that they previously were underwater on, where they owed more money on their mortgage than it was worth. Roughly 1.4 million borrowers returned to “positive equity” during the first three quarters of 2012, according to the latest data from CoreLogic.
There are already signs that sellers are trying to make the most of the latest wave of buyer demand. Median asking prices in some markets, including Phoenix and San Francisco, were up more than 20% in January from a year ago, according to Realtor.com. And experts say more sellers will probably list their properties this coming spring (a peak season for home purchases).
Here are five cities where it pays to be a home seller.
San FranciscoShutterstock.com
Sellers in such markets aren’t likely to unload their home at prices that surpass the boom years, but they have a shot at getting higher offers from buyers than they would have one or two years ago. For some owners, recent price gains may provide an opportunity to sell a home that they previously were underwater on, where they owed more money on their mortgage than it was worth. Roughly 1.4 million borrowers returned to “positive equity” during the first three quarters of 2012, according to the latest data from CoreLogic.
There are already signs that sellers are trying to make the most of the latest wave of buyer demand. Median asking prices in some markets, including Phoenix and San Francisco, were up more than 20% in January from a year ago, according to Realtor.com. And experts say more sellers will probably list their properties this coming spring (a peak season for home purchases).
Here are five cities where it pays to be a home seller.
San FranciscoShutterstock.com
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