We are in MA. As with others, the problem is no inventory. Whenever anything new goes on the market it’s a feeding frenzy.
The underlying problem is that older people aren’t selling. It used to be that people would retire and downsize in town or move to Cape Cod or Florida. But none of those options work right now. FL and the Cape have both gotten ridiculously expensive and there are no smaller houses in town to move to so everyone is just staying put. With the rise of remote work there seem to be fewer sales for relocations as well. Our neighbor that sold was a widower who moved into assisted living and jusr couldn’t keep his house anymore.
The offer my parents accepted came on the first day that the house was on the market, but the realtor told my parents to wait until the open house that weekend. There were over 100 people at the open house and they had to let them in in groups of 10.
The day of the open house they had about 10 more offers, and they went with the original. It was an exhausting experience- my parents are in their early 80s and they had to be out of the house for several hours, sometimes without much notice.
Lots of home here sell “pre market” before they are even officially listed. I’d personally take a fair offer rather than go through the hassle of open houses and showings if giving the choice.
Yeah, my parents felt that way too but the realtor told them to wait.
Somebody at the open house offered $40,000 over asking price. The original offer that they ultimately accepted was $20,000 over, but when the realtor went back to them they increased it by another $50,000 and my parents took it.
NW Ohio. Not exactly a bustling big city vibe situation! Low inventory, YES.
Our neighborhood is a hot commodity for young-middle families/first homes. Homes are barely listed before sold.
We are looking and “lost” 2 houses:
Ours was the highest bid but a slightly lower bid (full asking price) but cash, no appraisal, no inspection got it.
We were excited this was “the one” and got an appt early in the day, first day of listings/showings. (around here homes are now generally listed as “coming soon” to build up interest before you can see the houses). Got a call early the morning of the first show day. Some offered cash, no inspections, no appraisal, SITE UNSEEN. Never stepped foot in the house, just wrote a check.
Tough pill to swallow but we can’t gamble with our $$ that way.
It is even more of struggle for first time buyers. A neighbor’s daughter was bidding on a first home listed at $200K. House sold for $235K. 18% over asking. And the $200 was already much more than it would have sold for 4 years ago.
Historically, mid-summer is usually a RE market slow down time. People’s minds are on vacation! There is a small uptick in activity before schools start in September, then another tiny one before the holidays, and then the market goes dormant until late February. Still holds true somewhat, even in this crazy market.
Low inventory here in Chicago suburbs- some days I think we should sell! But then where would we go:)
My kids live in the city- youngest just graduated and had to work hard to find a rental, kept losing out - everything gets multiple applications and people bid over rental listing price. My older kids have lived in the city for several years and never had this problem.
My parents want to remain instate. Apartments on Long Island (that they would consider) are over well $5000 a month, and they don’t want to buy. They are moving close to me where it is still costly relative to other parts of the country, but much less expensive than Long Island.
My older daughter rented in a really nice part of Queens (no roommate) for $1700 a month before moving in with her fiancé. My other daughter rented a tiny 2 BR (plus a small office that they turned into a BR) in a great part of Brooklyn for $1200 a month, 3 roommates. Rents have gone up since.
My D and her fiancé plan to buy in a few years (staying in the area). They don’t need a down payment (exempt due to previous career) but they still need to afford the mortgage. Ugh.
It is definitely dependent on where you live. In my county, I don’t know about now, but last year our median was well over $800K if I remember. Others are in areas with $200K and getting outbid which makes sense - those are most affordable where maybe the mid to higher end are too pricey for many with high interest rates.
So very area dependent.
It is nuts that in certain middle of the country areas- $500K+ is the going rate but that’s where we are.
And it’s sad that in an area like mine, we can’t house those who teach and protect us unless they’re dual income and the second income is nice.
Does a young buyer needing a traditional mortgage have any chance of success in that kind of market?
Gosh, mortgage inspections / appraisals used to be sooooo picky. (Extreme example - At our 1993 closing, a few hundred dollars had to be held in escrow because there was no carpet yet on the stairs when mortgage rep stopped by. It actually was installed before closing, but builder had to prove it to get those last funds. Real estate agent rolled his eyes but said there was no way to get it changed.) Can’t imagine mortgages could get written on damaged houses. Sometimes you hear about an older roof causing mortgage company rejection.
We’ve had a few home on the market where I live. There just isn’t any inventory so when something comes on the market, it sells within days for more than list.
One property had two open house and offer windows — one for buyer-owners, and one for buyer-flippers. This was a foreclosure, so they thought they had a better chance but turns out the lender was using the offers of buyer-owners to show flippers how much they could make. Even as a foreclosure, it went to a corporate flipper who paid ask +15% in cash.
My niece has been bidding on a wide range of houses, all over $1mm! She and her H have good jobs but need a yard for the dogs. She’s somewhat discouraged but they keep trying. At least she can live with her folks during this house hunt. My brother & SIL’s house is very large but they aren’t used to having any pets and these two labs are big! They’ve been trying to get a place for months now.
OK, I think I found the place where all our house-hungry kids can move.
While cooking dinner, I like to watch HGTV. Currently on a Lottery Dream House kick and am amazed what $110,000 can buy on Oneida Lake. And the “expensive” option they were shown for $180K was amazing … totally updated and plenty big right on the lake. What’s wrong with this area?
Upstate NY is very rural. You can drive for miles and miles and see nothing but land. That being said, when I looked this area up I saw that it is located 10 miles north of Syracuse, which means it isn’t too far away from populated areas.
