Is it a good time to sell your home in southwestern Illinois?
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The COVID real estate market
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A confluence of factors have created a challenging and unprecedented housing market in the metro-east for both buyers and sellers.
All things considered, is now a good time to sell your home? The simple answer is yes ... and no.
Yes because you’d likely be able to sell it quickly for a significantly higher amount than you would have a year ago. That’s particularly true if you live in a “hot” area, such as Edwardsville-Maryville-Glen Carbon, O’Fallon-Shiloh-Mascoutah or Waterloo-Columbia-Smithton.
Many metro-east listings are attracting five or 15 offers from people bidding $5,000 to $30,000 above asking price, and they’re selling within days or hours of being put on the market.
The downside of selling now? You’ll need another place to live, so that will turn you into a buyer. It might be hard to find a suitable replacement home at a reasonable price in the current market.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a housing shortage across the country, according to Geoffrey J.D. Hewings, emeritus director of the Regional Economics Applications Laboratory at University of Illinois, who compiles statistics for the Illinois REALTORS Association in Springfield.
Barb Davidson, managing broker of Coldwell Banker Brown Reators in Belleville, has noticed that metro-east demand is highest for homes in medium-level to upper-level price ranges.
Many people are looking for nicer or larger homes that can better accommodate remote work or school.
Another factor is historically-low mortgage interest rates — ranging from 2.75% to 3.125% — which have enabled young buyers to bypass “starter” homes and move to the next level, said Rick Owens, managing broker of RE/MAX Alliance in Edwardsville with his wife, Tammy.
COVID-19 decreased supply because some would-be sellers decided to postpone listing their homes, worried that people coming in for tours could expose them to the coronavirus.
Senior citizens who might have sold their homes and moved into assisted living or other facilities also balked, feeling it was too risky from a health standpoint.
The demand for new home construction is so high that builders can’t keep up, according to Deb Frazier, CEO of the REALTOR Association of Southwestern Illinois. At the same time, the cost of lumber, steel, copper, aluminum materials has skyrocketed.
Bottom line: It’s a “seller’s market” in southwestern Illinois, which is generally good for sellers and bad for buyers. But people who are thinking of selling their homes must weigh the pros and cons of switching sides and becoming buyers.
This story was originally published July 29, 2021 at 6:00 AM.