Housing Market.....

[Gonna Smoke]

....is on FIRE, it's just ridiculous. I have a buddy who, due to a gradual change in demographics where he lives, has been looking to move to "my side of town". For over a year they've been looking for pre-existing homes to buy, but when they see one come up that they might be interested in, they drag their feet for a couple of days and the house gets sold. They're looking for the "perfect" home and I've told him he'd have to build it instead of waiting for it to come on the market.

Anyway, Friday they put in an offer of $12,000 over asking price and they would also pay all closing costs for a house that had just come on the market and was already overpriced. They were rejected, 5 people had outbid them. I've been telling him all along that he's got to be more aggressive and quit dragging his feet if he wants to buy another house, but that's just plain crazy. I know that the housing inventory around me is extremely low and houses sell within 1-3 days after hitting the market, or before if you know the realtor, but it's got to turn around eventually I would think.

 

[SmokyMose]

....is on FIRE, it's just ridiculous. I have a buddy who, due to a gradual change in demographics where he lives, has been looking to move to "my side of town". For over a year they've been looking for pre-existing homes to buy, but when they see one come up that they might be interested in, they drag their feet for a couple of days and the house gets sold. They're looking for the "perfect" home and I've told him he'd have to build it instead of waiting for it to come on the market.

Anyway, Friday they put in an offer of $12,000 over asking price and they would also pay all closing costs for a house that had just come on the market and was already overpriced. They were rejected, 5 people had outbid them. I've been telling him all along that he's got to be more aggressive and quit dragging his feet if he wants to buy another house, but that's just plain crazy. I know that the housing inventory around me is extremely low and houses sell within 1-3 days after hitting the market, or before if you know the realtor, but it's got to turn around eventually I would think.

Same thing here. Sale values are 20% or more from what they were 2 or 3 years ago in my subdivision and they usually go in a week or so. Maybe it's the price of lumber right now.
Thankfully it hasn't affected property taxes....yet.

 

[schlotz]

It is crazy. We had 15 viewings the first day we put our house on the market and it sold that day.

 

[chef jimmyj]

12K over, costs and the place was overpriced? Your advice to built was a very good one. If stick built will take too long, finding a quality Manufactured Modular is a very good option.
I purchased a modular 30 years ago that was as well built as any custom build and was able to pick and choose every detail. Ground breaking to turn key was just over 1 month...JJ

 

[sandyut]

I am happy we dont need to move... What you describe has been happening here in SLC a while too. My oldest daughter and husband were trying to buy in the Denver area for a while and had all the same issues, over pricing, steep competition, over bidding bidding wars etc. their realtor gave them some tips to be aggressive and finally got one. it hard to buy in these types of markets and the sellers know they are driving...which costs the buyers dearly.

I have bought in in these markets 2X. got lucky on both. made a little cash when I sold the first one to pay for the second one. the second home (our current) took years to be valued over what we paid. but we bought it knowing were not planning to move and this was not an investment to make money on, it was an investment in our future. it worked out to be a win on both fronts...just took a decade for the value to recoup. Been in this one over 15 years.

 

[yankee2bbq]

Yes, the housing market is on fire!! We recently moved and our house sold the first day it was on the market. (We actually had a showing when the house was technically not even on the market) Not even a for sale sign in our yard, never even hit the MLS market. Crazy, but it worked out for us. And found a house we love!

 

[pineywoods]

Already built homes more than likely also have the advantage of the crazy prices of building materials right now. I can't believe how much lumber prices have gone up. Have some friends that are trying to get a house started they talked to a couple builders about what they wanted to get an idea of prices and how much home they could afford. Then they had blueprints drawn up and a revision or two then finalized them and took them to the builders they had talked to in between the time they talked to the builders the first time and the time they got the plans to them prices were 20 to 25 dollars a square foot higher. Both builders plus a third they talked to said the prices jumped so much because of the big hikes in materials. I've got a couple projects to do around here and can't believe the prices on lumber right now.

 

[Brokenhandle]

Our daughter and SIL are seeing the same thing in Omaha also! Thankfully they're just looking for now!

Ryan

 

[BB-que]

Interest rates are crazy low and have been for awhile, that’s driving prices up as people can afford more house than ever. It’s cyclical, it can’t and won’t last though, eventually things will overheat and a the bubble will burst - and when it does home prices will tank fast. I’ve worked in commodity trading/finance for a long time and a saying to live by is “markets take the escalator up and the elevator down”. But to your original point, it’s a good time to be a seller. I’d you’re a buyer the unfortunate truth is you’re probably buying at a peak.

 

[daspyknows]

Its been like that by me for a long long time in SF Bay Area. I just checked Zillow and the Zenestimate for my house is now over a million bucks which is insane, If I didn't like where I lived I would be out of here. Neighbors across the street bought for $1.15 mil 3 years ago and now worth $1.5 mil. With low interest rates and low rate of building in many places this will continue for awhile.

 

[clifish]

Everywhere. The house I built in PA last year is probably up 100 grand, this is due to demand of people getting out of NYC and not taking vacations so they bought a second house to work out of. Even the price of lumber has skyrocketed, my builder says his cost of lumber on my house is up $30K since last year. 4 x 8 sheets of plywood were $8-12 are now 30 to 45 ea.

 

[Winterrider]

Lumber prices have been ridiculous with all of the tornado, hurricane disasters lately. Ins. prices have also taken a hit.