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Wishing you and your family and loved ones a very Merry and Blessed Christmas!
Most home buyers and sellers understand the seasonality of the residential real estate market with spring being the “hot” market and winter being a slow one. This often leads to many sellers with homes that have not sold, opting to take them off the market until after the holidays with the plan to come back when the market gets better. Is this a good plan though? As a seller are you missing out on selling your home by taking your home off the market at a time when there is so little competition and at a time that the buyers that are out looking are usually very serious? Well, first and foremost, if, as a seller, you are taking a break from dealing with keeping your home show-ready, making it available for showings, etc so that you can enjoy time with your family and friends then by all means that is a great plan. However, if you are taking a listing hiatus because of “the market” or “the time of year”, you may want to rethink it. 715 homes and condos went under contract within a week of Christmas last year… As the table below shows, there were 715 homes that went under contract within a week of Christmas last year (either in the week proceeding or week after). So, during what many consider a “dead” time for real estate, quite a few homes sold. During 2018, there were a total of 31,121 homes and condos sold in the St Louis 5-County Core market so, if we were to simply determine on average how many homes sold in a two-week period we would come up with 1,196. At 715 sales for this two-week Christmas period, that is just about 60% of an average two-week period, but it’s still rather significant. Homes and Condos That Went Under Contract Within 1 Week Of Christmas 2018 In The St Louis 5-County Core
Every year around this time is when many homeowners that have their homes listed for sale discuss with their agent whether they should just take their home or condo off the market as Christmas approaches, then come back on the market after the beginning of the new year. Many homeowners that are thinking of selling contemplate the same thing trying to decide whether to come on the market before the holidays or wait until after. It is a well-known fact this is a slower time of the year for the St Louis real estate market, but does that mean it’s so bad that you should remove your listing from the market and take a break? Well, while a lot of people may decide to do this, often because they will have family and friends visiting or staying with them, one can make a decent argument for staying on the market around Christmas if it’s possible. Homes and condos do sell during Christmas week… To address the issue of whether it makes sense for a seller to stay on the market over Christmas, I pulled stats for Christmas week last year, to see how many homes and condos went under contract that week. As the MORE, REALTORS® exclusive STL Market Reports™ table shows, there were 291 listings that went under contract Christmas week 2017 in the St Louis 5-County Core real estate market. Continue reading “Houses and Condos for Christmas Presents?“  Photo by: John Pavelka |
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