Super Low Housing Inventory Means Now Is a Great Time To Sell Your Home and It Can Be Done Safely

If you live in Chicagoland and you're reevaluating your current living situation, whether you feel like you need more space as a result of quarantine, you want to be closer to family, you’re interested in a different neighborhood, whatever your reason is, this is for you.

Last weekend I was out showing houses. It was pouring rain and people were sitting in their cars lined up waiting to see houses safely (masks, gloves, social distancing, etc.). One of my buyer clients decided to write an offer on a house and we were one of seven offers! A coworker’s buyer client’s offer was one of 10! Wow!

Inventory is extremely low right now, and we need more listings to accommodate buyer demand, especially in DuPage County. For houses that are in desirable locations, need a minimum amount of work, and are priced competitively, it’s like a shark tank. Let’s see what’s driving this environment by looking at some data from pre-COVID to now:

Active Versus Temporary Off-the-Market Listings
A lot of people temporarily took their houses off the market because they were unsure if they wanted to sell and wanted to wait and see what would happen. These numbers peaked around April 13, but since then have slowly gone down as more people realize that you can safely sell your house right now.

Home Showings
At the end of March, there was a huge dip in showings, which are now slowly increasing. We're currently at 89% of showing levels for this time last year, so showing numbers are definitely up right now.

Homes Under Contract
At the end of March and in early April, the number of homes going under contract was down significantly. Since then, the numbers have been steadily rising. Last week, we were at 3,700 homes under contract. This week, we’re up to almost 4,200, which is only 6% below where we were at last year at this time. So, under contract homes are selling.

New Listings
The number of new listings was low at the end of March and early April but, like the other data points, have been slowly increasing since then. What I find really interesting is when you look at the period of May 11-18, inventory is higher but it’s still way below where we were in 2019.

Home Prices
Home prices are steady right now. A lot of people are saying that prices are dropping. That’s not the case, if anything in Chicagoland prices have gone up slightly from this time last year. I have a great tool available called Find Your Value where you plug in your address to generate a high-level market report and estimated value for your house. I can also provide a more detailed home value analysis for you based on the data I have access to, reach out to me and we’ll go from there.

There's also a really cool buyer heat map tool that allows you to see the level of buyer activity based on your address and your home's characteristics, so you’ll know whether you're in a very active buyer environment or moderately active. And you can see the number of buyers looking for a house just like yours. The report also includes supply trends and what's going on in your neighborhood. If you're interested, contact me and I'll send you a link.

As you can see from the data, now is a good time to sell your house and it can be done safely. I’d love to put my experience to work for you! Contact me today to set up a free consultation at at jnewsom@bhhschicago.com or (773) 580-5840.