Year of the Dragon
offers a new perspective…
The Chinese New Year began January 23. Now that we’re in February, it’s officially the Year of the Dragon, considered the luckiest year in the Chinese Zodiac. It’s been predicted that this year will be one of strong energy and powerful forces.
What does that mean for our local real estate market? So far, the strong energy is in the number of buyers out in force trying to purchase a house before the powerful forces of Facebook going public flood the market with even more buyers with more money (Facebook IPO to spark valley economy).
Overall this is great news for our local economy and real estate market—but for buyers, it only means that there will be more competition and more pressure on prices. The ongoing issue of low inventory is still the case in our area. For example: 2 homes listed in the Palo Alto Midtown neighborhood generated over 15 offers EACH. One of these homes sold for 44% above asking and the other sold for 38% over the list price! Both were all cash offers.
The other side of this equation includes those who would like to sell their home. For all of you out there that have been waiting for the right time to sell…it is now. We are at the beginning of a very hot sellers market. I don’t anticipate the number of new listings coming on the market to be able to keep pace with the demand of the current buyers let alone all of the new ones that will be entering the market this year.
Does this mean that this applies to every neighborhood and price range? The answer is “yes”—but to varying degrees. Real estate dynamics are local and to a large extent they are specific to only the house that is being sold (neighborhood, street, characteristics and condition of the house, etc.). All of these things will affect what happens with any given home sale transaction, but current events and inventory available will start to affect every house in all of our area communities to greater and lesser degrees.
If you’ve been thinking of buying or selling a home here on the Mid-Peninsula it’s time to sit down and come up with a new strategy for this Year of the Dragon. If you want to chat more about your real estate questions, or strategize about your next best move, please don’t hesitate to text, email or call me. Enjoy your February, wherever you are!