Heading into fall, we become the envy of those bracing for winter storms, and with cooler temperatures come our annual flock of snowbirds, ready to relax and stay warm in our perfect winter weather.
While spring is the highest season for home buying and selling in the Phoenix metro area, with the peak month in May, we really don’t see a drastic decline in the fall and winter that you see in other states. Plenty of residents will wait until after the summer months to make their move. Phoenix still is one of the top cities for relocation, and we have the strong second-home market.
The chart below is for Mesa and shows how, although spring is the peak time, there really isn’t a lot of decline in the rest of the year. October sales only declined 16 percent from the peak month of June, January and February are the slowest for home sales, and it picks right back up again in March.
Canadians Buying Second Homes and Primary Residence
The National Association of REALTORS® released its annual report for international transactions of U.S. residential real estate from April 2017 to March of this year. Canadians purchased approximately 27,400 res
idential real estate properties in the U.S. valued at $10.5 billion during this time period. The average purchase price was $383,900, and the median price was $292,000. Canadians were responsible for about 10 percent of all foreign real estate sales in the U.S.
Canadians continue to purchase real estate in warm climate states, as snowbirds flock to the south during the winter months. More than 60 percent of all sales were in the three popular states of Florida, Arizona and California.
More than 40 percent of Canadian buyers purchase U.S. real estate for their own personal use as a vacation property or second home. Approximately 23 percent of purchases were intended as a primary residence, as many are making America their resident home. A total of 15 percent of buyers purchased as a pure investment for rental purposes, while 16 percent intended to use their property part time and rent the property part time.
REGULAR MARKET AND SECOND-HOME MARKET
Supply and demand is the key factor to determine if we are in a buyer’s or seller’s market, and, as we have been all year, we still are very much in a seller’s market, with substantially more demand than supply. We also are seeing more second-home buyers from within the U.S., which is helping keep the demand high as we head into our second-home buyer season.
- Supply: 59.3
- Demand: 96.7
- Supply vs. Demand: -39%
- (less supply than demand)
FOR THE SELLER
If you are thinking of selling, now is a great time to list your home, while we are still in a strong seller’s market with higher demand than supply even in the winter months. With interest rates beginning to rise, more buyers are pulling the trigger and buying homes to lock in their mortgage rates. Our winter visitors are flocking in and ready to buy their second home in the sun.
If you are considering selling your home, you can get a free home estimate at InstantHomeValueAZ.com, or contact me directly for a free no obligation market analysis.
FOR THE BUYER
While mortgage rates are off from their record lows, they still are very low and expected to continue to increase, making it a great time to lock in a 15- or 30-year fixed rate. If the spread between supply and demand remains where it is today, buying in the spring could be harder and more expensive than buying now.
Looking on sites like Zillow and Realtor.com are a great way to start your search. However, it can get very frustrating, as many of the homes that show as active actually are under contract. Please feel free to contact me directly. I will create a search for you, send you only the homes that still are truly active, and we can set appointments to view any matching your preferences. Your perfect home is just around the corner.
Lorraine Ryall has been a Multi-Million Dollar producer for the past nine years. You can reach Lorraine at (602) 571-6799. You also can send her an email at Lorraine@Homes2SellAZ.com, or visit her website at Homes2SellAZ.com.