Thinking About Selling Your Home? Take Advantage of Volusia County’s Seller’s Market

Like everything in life, the real estate market has its cycles. This fluctuation is often referred to in terms of “buyer’s markets” and “seller’s markets.” Currently, we’re riding the wave of a seller’s market. 

If you are thinking about selling your home, this is a good time to get in touch with a local real estate agent to discuss your options (Click Here to watch a quick video on how to choose the right realtor).

What’s a Seller’s Market?

Investopedia defines a seller’s market as, “a market condition characterized by a shortage of goods available for sale, resulting in pricing power for the seller. A seller’s market is a term commonly applied to the property market when low supply meets high demand.”

When you see headlines like these, “Booming Real Estate Market in Volusia-Flagler Freezing Out…Buyers,”  (The Daytona Beach News-Journal) or,  “The Real Estate Market is Hot…,” (The West Volusia Beacon), you know it’s a seller’s market.

As we celebrate the signs and bonuses of a seller’s market, it’s important to remember the important reality that, “what goes up, must come back down,” which is another reason prospective sellers should consider speaking with their agent.

6 Key Signs Indicating it’s a Seller’s Real Estate Market

A seller’s market is defined by several key signs, the first of which is based on the fundamental economic principle of supply and demand.

1. The housing demand is greater than the supply

When there are more home buyers than homes for sale, it’s a seller’s market and the offers become more competitive. All of a sudden, older homes that need substantial repair fly off the proverbial shelves without any (or minimal) repair contingencies or credits (see #5 below). 

According to Realtor.com, “On average, homes in Volusia County, FL sell after 56 days on the market. The trend for median days on market in Volusia County, FL has gone down since last month, and slightly down since last year.”

Compare today’s “56 days on the market” with the HUDuser.gov’s cited 100+ inventory days from just three years prior and proof of the limited housing supply is even more evident.

2. Quicker home sales

That brings us to our second point. When the demand is greater than the supply, buyers get less picky or buy quickly because they’re afraid the best houses are already gone. The result is that offers are made and escrows are closed swifter than usual.

When you feel confident you can sell your house in two months or less, you’re probably benefiting from a market that favors the sellers.

3. Higher home prices

We find ourselves back to that fundamental economic principle of supply and demand: when supplies are low the demand is high and prices go up. Thus, it’s not surprising that sellers are enjoying Volusia County’s highest sales prices ever.

Residential real estate values have climbed with a 20% pricing increase in just the last year, with a median price of $270,000.

4. Bidding wars

Buyers are always a little nervous when bidding on the home of their dreams. In the real estate industry, a deal isn’t officially done until escrow is closed.

Remember: in a buyer’s market, everything that’s true for a seller’s market is turned upside down. So homes sit for longer and any offer is better than no offer when a seller is long ready to unload their home and move on. As a result, they’re more apt to take the first offer they get.

When selling a home in the midst of a seller’s market, you may wind up fielding multiple offers, which means the home buyers feel they have to “sell themselves to you,” rather than the other way around. This can lead to bidding wars, including offers that come in with heartfelt letters and pictures of the couple or family who are hoping you’ll pick them. In some cases, bidding wars can even result in sellers receiving offers that exceed the original listing price.

5. Sellers don’t need to offer incentives

During a seller’s market, those who are selling their home rarely need to offer incentives such as offering to pay closing costs, cashback for necessary repairs or updates, or including high-end appliances and furniture that suits the home. 

That said, we still encourage our home sellers to review a multi-point checklist to prepare for the sale even if some issues may not be as important as others when the market is on their side.

6. Your area is the landing pad for new corporations or company headquarters

Whenever companies relocate to a new city, the surrounding communities often experience a housing boom since transferring managers and employees need places to live. Team Volusia Economic Development Corporation has worked hard to entice employers from around the nation such as Sykes Communication, Medtronic, and World Class Distributions (Trader Joes). Their dedication to strategic economic development activities and business recruitment initiatives in Volusia County, Florida has brought thousands of jobs to our area – particularly in the past ten years.

As a result, the housing supply in DeLand and the surrounding communities has been swept up by transplants from other counties and states as well as by solidly employed local families who can now afford to purchase a home of their own.

Real Estate Agents are Essential in a Seller’s Market

One of the biggest misconceptions buyers have is that real estate agents are not as essential in a seller’s market because selling the home is as easy as getting it posted on MLS as a For Sale By Owner (FSBO) listing. This is not true, and FSBOs are almost never a good idea.

First, homeowners have no legal protection if they inadvertently violate Florida’s complex legal and regulatory requirements that come with selling a home. Secondly, most buying agents won’t show your home because they don’t want their clients to absorb the risk of real estate negotiations-gone-bad with a DIYer. 

Working with a real estate agent in a seller’s market is the best way to get the highest sales price possible in the shortest amount of time. And, that’s exactly what we do when we act as the selling agents for Volusia County home sellers. 

The agents and brokers at Southern Exclusive Realty have 50+ years of experience and have successfully served more than 400 customers. We understand that while you need a real estate expert who is connected in the community, you also need a brokerage that can help you negotiate the best price for your property. We bring all of these skills and more to the table.

Contact us to set up a consultation so you can take advantage of this current wave of the seller’s market. It won’t last forever…