The Holidays Aren’t Stopping Homebuyers This Year | MyKCM

Black Friday and Cyber Monday are behind us, yet finding the perfect holiday gifts for friends and family is certainly still top of mind for many right now. This year, there’s another type of buyer that’s very active this holiday season – the homebuyer.

Traditionally, the winter months have seen a lower volume of sales in comparison to spring and summer, but this year, the COVID-19 pandemic put the spring real estate market on pause, and literally pushed it back. As we head into December, we are still seeing homes get multiple offers and seller are still able to hold firm on their asking price.

Take a look at the stats for Alexandria VA for this year.  The interactive chart below shows that throughout 2020, sellers have consistently gotten their asking price when selling their homes.

 

Each month, ShowingTime releases their Showing Index which tracks the average number of appointments received on active U.S. house listings. The most recent index notes:

“The Showing Index reported a 60.9 percent jump in nationwide showing traffic year over year in October, the sixth consecutive month to see an increase over last year.”

Here’s the breakdown of the latest activity by region of the country compared to this time last year:

  • The Northeast increased by 65.5%
  • The West increased by 64.7%
  • The Midwest increased by 55.7%
  • The South increased by 54.7%

Why is the traffic so active?

The health crisis definitely put homebuying plans on pause for many earlier this year. Buyers, however, are in the market and making moves well past the typical busy homebuying seasons of spring and summer.

One of the main reasons buyer traffic has continued to soar in the second half of 2020 is how dramatically mortgage rates have fallen. According to Freddie Mac, the average mortgage rate last December was 3.72%. Today, the rate is a full percentage point lower.

This also holds true here in Alexandria.  Take a look at the pending sales activity over this past year:

Be sure to use your mouse to hover over the data points.  Notice the sharp uptick in pending homes once we got used to the March stay-at-home order.  It changed the way people started living in their homes and this birthed a new demand for homes with greater functionality.

Bottom Line

There are first-time, move-up, and move-down buyers actively looking for the home of their dreams this winter. If you’re thinking of selling your house in 2021, you don’t need to wait until the spring to do it. Your potential buyer is very likely searching for a home in your neighborhood right now.  Use this link to connect with me and let's explore all of your options.