Feeling Like You Missed the Peak Time to Sell Your House? Well, It’s Not Too Late… Yet

Selling your house at the absolute peak of the market would be ideal, and not just because that’s the perfect time to get the highest price and pocket the most money. It usually means that you’ll also get your house sold quickly — often with multiple offers — and the most favorable terms, like flexible closing dates and buyers waiving contingencies.

But pulling off the perfect timing is difficult, if not impossible…

For starters, the only time you know when prices peak is after the fact. But more so because selling your personal home isn’t like selling shares of a stock where you can just make a trade when you feel the time is ripe to capitalize on the market. Selling your house takes thought, planning, and timing around your life and personal circumstances. Once you have those things sorted, you probably need some time to get your house ready to sell and actually on the market.

So, there’s a good chance that if you’re thinking about selling your house, it’s been on your mind for some time — possibly even years, leaving you feeling like you missed the peak of the market and wishing you’d sold it sooner.

The good news is you’re not the only potential seller feeling that way, and it’s not too late to capitalize on a sellers’ market.

Nearly 80% of Sellers Wish They Hadn’t Waited to Sell

A recent study revealed that 79% of recent sellers felt like they missed out on the hot housing market and wished that they’d listed their house for sale sooner, according to Realtor.com. The survey also found that 52.7% of potential sellers have been thinking about selling for between a year and two years, and 32.8% of them had been thinking about it for between 2-3 years.

Considering how hot the market was during the past few years, and how rising interest rates have reportedly caused some buyers to take a breather, and others completely out of the market because they can no longer afford to buy, it’s understandable that people might feel like the market isn’t as strong now. This is especially true when you see articles like this one from Fast Company, saying that inventory is up across the country, which implies that houses aren’t selling, and there’s more competition for fewer buyers.

But, if you start digging into the article, statistics show that it’s very much still a strong sellers’ market:

“That said, most of the country still remains below pre-pandemic inventory/months of supply. Much of the Midwest and Northeast, in particular, remains tight.

National active listings in March 2024 were still 37.7% below March 2019 levels when there were 1,115,940 U.S. homes for sale. That lack of inventory explains why home prices in many markets, despite softening and spiked interest rates, have remained resilient.”

• Nearly 27% of homes sold over list price in February 2024, compared to 24.2% 2023, and 20.6% that sold over list at this time pre-pandemic, and 19% all the way back in 2019. In other words, you have a better chance of selling your house for over asking price now, than you did in what was considered the “hottest” time in the market for sellers.
• The value of a typical home in the U.S. is up 42.4% compared to pre-pandemic values, and 47 of the 50 largest metro areas saw increases in the past year.

So, while it may be true that home prices have softened in some areas, prices are still historically high right now in most areas and price ranges.

It’s Not Too Late for You to Capitalize on an Amazing Sellers’ Market

Perhaps you missed the absolute peak in your area and price range. Or maybe the peak is happening right now. But it could also be a month or two from now. Unfortunately, there’s no way to pinpoint when that exact moment and amount will be.

It’s impossible to predict when or if there will be a major price correction, and it may not happen in the next few months, or even a year. But considering how the majority of home sellers already feel like they missed out when they actually haven’t, think about how you’d feel if you waited and prices went down considerably.

The only thing you can control is when you decide to sell. So the best question you can ask yourself right now is: Will I wish I’d sold sooner if I continue to wait even longer to put my house on the market, and values go down in the near future?

If the answer to that question is yes, then you should seriously consider listing your house soon.

The Takeaway:

The ideal scenario for selling your house is at the peak of the market — not just for top dollar, but also for a quick sale and favorable terms. However, timing the market perfectly is tough.

Many sellers who’ve been contemplating selling for a while are feeling like they’ve missed the peak. Yet, data shows it’s still a strong sellers’ market with low inventory and high prices. While you may not hit the absolute peak, current conditions remain favorable, with homes selling quickly and often above asking price. The key question is whether waiting longer to sell is worth the risk of a potential downturn. If not, it’s time to consider listing your house soon.

And always keep in mind, if you are both selling and buying, there is no need to time the market when staying local or moving to a similar market. Sure, you could have sold at the height of the market, but you would have been buying at the height of the market as well (or throwing money away paying someone else's mortgage at 100% interest). If your house isn't right for you, don't wait. Stay out of the fray by finding what you want now, selling and buying in the same market, and refinancing when the rates go down. If you wait until rates go down, you'll be right back to bidding wars and anxiety.

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