Is the real estate market starting to soften on the West Coast?
According to the Wall St Journal the real estate market on the West coast may be hitting a head wind. Is the 7 year bull market in for a slow down? As most real estate professionals know home prices cannot go up forever. It appears based on recent sales data that the 7 year uptrend which saw some home prices almost double has come to a slowdown. Existing home sales fell 1.7% according to the National Association of Realtors. Sales declined 2.2% compared with sales the previous year. 40% of home sales occur between March and June. My best advice to home buyers is to wait until the Fall to purchase a home to get the best price! The sellers are getting impatient and tend to be more motivated after the Spring and Summer season. Fall is right around the corner!
The average price of a home fell in June in Seattle, Los Angeles and San Jose according to real estate brokerage Redfin. The slowdown was across the board including starter homes. Coastal real estate markets were the first to take off in 2012 at the end of the housing bust. Recent changes to the tax code including limiting write offs of property taxes and interest have put a damper on first time home buyers along with the rising prices over the past 7 years.
If you are considering a move out of the state you may want to position your home to sell quickly. Best practices include decluttering, cleaning and doing any upgrades or delayed maintenance. Hire an agent and use a professional stager to give your home an edge over the competition. If the housing market is softening it may take up to 5 or 7 years to turn around. I’ve seen a professional stager use a client’s furnishings and with a few modifications completely change the feel of the home.
If you are considering relocating to the Prescott area of Arizona I can assist you. As a dedicated real estate associate broker in Arizona and a licensed sales person in California I have knowledge of both markets. The time may be right to make a move out of the West Coast.
Please visit my web site at www.PrescottHomeandRanch.com for homes available in Prescott and the surrounding areas. Ginger Marshall, Associate Broker, Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Bloomtree.