It is sweltering hot in Houston already, and so is the real estate market! We keep hearing about how hot the real estate market is across the nation, so some buyers are starting to back off and wait until the market cools, while sellers are becoming over-confident and starting to over price.
 
If you are a Seller, please be cautious about over-pricing too much, because your home will still have to appraise if the buyer has a loan, unless the buyer is paying cash or has a lot of cash reserves. In a Seller’s market, we also start to see sellers slack on getting their home showcase ready to sell because they see buyers paying top dollar, even when the house is in poor condition. However, these sellers are probably leaving money on the table and could sell their home for an even greater return if they invest a little money in updates and clean up.
 
One of the advantages of working with an Energy Realty agent is that we are here to guide you on what to do to sell your home fast and at the greatest return. If finances are an issue, we now partner with a concierge service called Revive that will offer guidance and scenarios on some remodeling to help you capture a higher price, and they will not only manage the project, they will finance it for you.
 
Check out some of my latest remodeling videos on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. I’m in the middle of a few remodel projects for some of my clients and can’t wait to see the response when we list theses homes for sale in the next few weeks.
 
The next question I get from buyers is when will the inventory get better so they can stop overpaying for a house. I have been using the Katy market as a gauge on inventory and check the Active homes on the market every few days to see where we are. From February-April, the inventory levels remained steady at under 200 homes for sale in all of Katy! That is incredibly low (less than 1 month’s supply) and what is more typical for one of the larger communities like Cinco Ranch. As of this morning, there are 272 homes active on the market (not under contract) in Katy–that is a 36% increase in inventory!
 
Stay tuned buyers because inventory levels are slowly increasing again, and with interest rates expected to rise by the end of the year, this market could turn more to your advantage.
 
Since real estate markets are cyclical, like the stock market, I would expect us to remain in a Seller’s market for the next year or two before we see a big shift, but we hope to see pricing settle down to a normal rate of appreciation, instead of the 20% on average home value increase we are seeing currently. Stay tuned for my monthly Real View of the real estate market by following by monthly blog and newsletter.
 
By: Sherry Campbell