Smart Advice on Buying a Home During the Holidays

 The holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year. Everyone is in the holiday mode of the hustle and bustle so buying a house might not be the number one thing on their mind. If you are in the mindset of purchasing a home this holiday season, here are some tips on what to do.

Anticipate and Plan for Delays

A lot of people take time off during the holidays from work, so it might delay the process when it comes to the ins and outs of purchasing a home. This could include lenders, home inspectors, contractors, and moving companies. You will need to be a bit more flexible when it comes to your purchase.

Recognize the Seriousness of Holiday Buyers and Sellers

Most people will put off home buying until after the New Year. Some sellers do not want to show their home during the holiday season, so they might pull their listing for the holiday season. If you do find a seller that lists during the holidays, then this means they are serious about selling fast. This means that you can be more aggressive with negotiations.

Be Prepared for a Limited Housing Inventory

As mentioned earlier, sellers will pull their listings during the holidays. This means that there will be a short supply of listings to choose from. You will need to be a bit more proactive in your search. Obtaining a pre-approval letter will let sellers know you are a serious buyer.

Be Flexible with Your Schedule

During the busy holiday season, you might have a bit of leeway in your work and school schedule. Take advantage of this time to see listings and talk with real estate professionals. Remember those in the industry might also want to take some time off, so that can be an obstacle you face.

Delay Your Move if Needed

Even if you find your dream home during the holidays, this does not mean you have to close and move in on Christmas Day. Negotiate your move-in date, sellers will be willing to work with you.

Remember having a local real estate agent who knows the ins and outs of purchasing a home is very beneficial. Those experienced agents know what it takes to buy during the holiday season.

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Reasons For The Continuing Price Appreciation

 The current shift in the market will cause a slow down in price growth but professionals in the industry report that price appreciation will keep going. Good news for sellers as the home prices will not drop.  There are two reasons why this is the case: supply and demand. 

Housing inventory is increasing in 2022 but it is a slow increase and housing demand is still low.  The reason we do not have enough homes on the market today stems from the 2008 crash.  After the crash, many builders and businesses in the industry closed shop.  Now that the housing market is hot with buyer’s demand, there are not enough houses being built.  After the crash in the housing market there has been a long period of underbuilding.   Since this has been going on for fourteen years, it will take awhile to build back from the underbuilding of new homes.

Even though we are seeing higher home prices and an increase in mortgage rates, this does not mean that buyer demand is cooling off.  In fact experts predict that Millennials will keep the buying momentum going.  The reason we are seeing the Millennials flooding the market is due to their agining into their peak homebuying years.  The Millennial demand coupled with low housing supply is causing the pressure to rise on home prices.

” Millennials continue to transition to their prime home-buying age and will remain the driving force in potential homeownership demand in the years ahead”, says Odeta Kushi, Deputy Chief Economist at First American.

” After all, supplies of homes for sale remain near record lows. And while a jump in mortgage rates has dampened demand somewhat, demand still outpaces supply, thanks to a combination of little new construction and strong household formation by large numbers of millennials “, says Bankrate.

Home prices are not going to fall due to these changes. Since there is still an unbalance between demand and supply.  Like with all products in any market, supply and demand  will predict the market.  A local sales agent can help you navigate the home buying process even when the market is shifting.

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