An article in today's Calgary Herald, spoke of the increases in resale market activity and a price growth in the resale housing market for August 2012 over August 2011.Many a REALTOR® are bound to sing the same old songs of, "Prices are on the rise, and houses are selling fast! Buyers should offer closer to asking price! Sellers should price above the last few houses to sell!" I know I got an email from a designated broker - an hour ago - claiming just that.
Of course now that the Calgary Real Estate Board has an economist on staff, we're seeing a few qualifications to these "news" articles. You'll actually read in the article that we are "it still has a way to go to catch up to the peak pricing of a few years ago," (2007) and "even though there’s growth, we’re not at typical levels of activity" for the Calgary area market. This translates into - we are still in a precarious position as far as the resale housing market. A small change in the economic climate or interest rates can - and will - have serious implications on home prices and continued affordability.
For sellers, this means, pricing your homes appropriately for TODAY'S market. We're still having fewer sales than normal, and you shouldn't be trying to price your home higher (or even near) the price peaks of 2007. If you bought your home in 2007 or 2008 and did not do any significant upgrades in your home, you should not be expecting to sell it for near to what you bought it for.
If you're interviewing a real estate agent that suggests that kind of pricing, RUN -- don't walk to the next interview. Otherwise if you "hire" them, you're likely to just waste your time on the market. (...and not IN the market). Most sellers today want to SELL their home and not just list it for sale. I highly doubt your home will sell above market value in any case.
The odds of listing your home for sale and actually getting it sold, remain at about 50% if the last couple of years are the best indication. And that is with great MLS® advertising and offering adequate buyer agent compensation. Reduce the quality of advertising/photos/measurements/descriptions or the buyer agent compensation and you'll substantially reduce your chances of being sold -- unless your home is priced for it. Even an ice-cream bar will sell in the middle of January if it's priced right!
What are your thoughts?
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