been trying to buy a house.. UGH!

[rattlsnak]

Everything sells within 2-4 days of listing and for usually at least 20-30K over asking price (in the 600K range, higher priced ones are going for 50K + over.. ) with NO appraisal contingencies.. WTH? Aren't we in a pandemic? Apparently a LOT of people have a LOT of cash to spend.. It's definitely a sellers market out there right now. Geez..

[Z-man]

Same thing happening even here in NJ. Seems folks are moving out of NYC in droves. My new neighbor moved from NYC to my town a couple of months ago. Inventory is ridiculously low. Homes that hit the market are going for $20k to $40K above list.

[masraum]

Yep, it's crazy in Houston too. Our daughter just bought a house. There were multiple bids on the house in 24-48 hours. The sellers' realtor then reached out to the folks that had placed bids and said "place your best bid." I think the whole process from house on the market to bidding war and accepted bid was 4 days. They haven't sold their old house yet, but the realtor told them that houses are selling in hours or maybe up to about a week.

[Arizona_928]

Yeah Phoenix is stupid hot.

Even up here. Trying to find a surveyor is a couple months out...

[pwd72s]

The recent slight hike in interest rates could be a factor...

[aigel]

1) Home is where most people now spend the majority of their time, so it has become more important to have a nice place including home office. People don't even seem to think about time after CV when they will go to work every day, can be on vacation, visit friends, go hang out in town etc. to make up for a sub par living situation.

2) Rates are at record lows.

3) People have a lot of money available from the stock market and are moving some of it into tangible assets. There is definite fear of inflation with trillions pumped into the economy. Most every tangible asset has increased in price very significantly recently. Have you tried to buy a classic car - say some no brainier model like a classic 911, or a Type E Jag? How about guns? Gold?

4) A lot of wealth is being passed down to the next generation. Either as support (gifts) or as inheritance. When the millennials start a family the well to do boomer grandparents will be happy to help with a down payment or go in on a purchase.

5) This is now like toilet paper was in spring. People hear about a rush to something and the FOMO sets in. Everyone who hasn't thought about buying a house suddenly is.

[john70t]

Zig when everyone zags. 2006
the next one may be fatal. But given it's all vaporware hopefully not.

In the meantime park funds in a few safe places.

[look 171]

I agree with George on this 100%.

Lowest rates in many, many years. People are jumping in head first to grab whatever that's available. This isn't because mass amount of people are moving out of large cities into rural areas. Only some are doing that.

[look 171]

I have not kept up with the latest but this one looks if its domestic money passing down from the previous gen. I don't hear too much from real estate people complaining about foreign money flowing in. Not sure if its that way up in Vancouver?

[Ayles]

Originally Posted by aigel

1) Home is where most people now spend the majority of their time, so it has become more important to have a nice place including home office. People don't even seem to think about time after CV when they will go to work every day, can be on vacation, visit friends, go hang out in town etc. to make up for a sub par living situation.

2) Rates are at record lows.

3) People have a lot of money available from the stock market and are moving some of it into tangible assets. There is definite fear of inflation with trillions pumped into the economy. Most every tangible asset has increased in price very significantly recently. Have you tried to buy a classic car - say some no brainier model like a classic 911, or a Type E Jag? How about guns? Gold?

4) A lot of wealth is being passed down to the next generation. Either as support (gifts) or as inheritance. When the millennials start a family the well to do boomer grandparents will be happy to help with a down payment or go in on a purchase.

5) This is now like toilet paper was in spring. People hear about a rush to something and the FOMO sets in. Everyone who hasn't thought about buying a house suddenly is.

On point #1, work will never be the same. Both my wife and I’s emoloyers have gone to permanent work from home if you want. Which gives a certain amount of mobility in our region if we decide to move. Over the last year my co-workers have dispersed quite a bit.

[GothingNC]

Same here in the Raleigh area. Homes are selling within 48 hours over asking price. New homes being built here cannot keep up with the demand.

https://www.wral.com/coronavirus/amid-pandemic-lockdowns-area-home-sales-prices-soar/19552703/

I am not looking forward for the next county property tax increase after the next round of real estate tax value assessments.

[wilnj]

Talking to my brother who is in residential construction, some of his clients are taking a break. The cost of buying a property for rehab plus the cost of materials has forced them to the sidelines rather than risk being caught without a chair when the music stops.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by john70t

Zig when everyone zags. 2006
the next one may be fatal. But given it's all vaporware hopefully not.

In the meantime park funds in a few safe places.

I agree. The peak is here or coming. This next one will be more than the housing market.

[billjam]

We are seeing the same thing in Aus. The housing market is going crazy with anything habitable being snapped up within days, and usually at a premium price.
Youngsters (25 and 30) who work for me have been looking for houses to buy for months. They come to work on Mondays with tales of queues of buyers at each home open that they attended over the weekend. It is the same for both ends of the market as well, not just the first home buyers.

[flatbutt]

My next door neighbor just sold their home for $240K. Consider that it is only 800 sq ft, poorly laid out and they bought it 4 years ago for $120!

[masraum]

Originally Posted by flatbutt

My next door neighbor just sold their home for $240K. Consider that it is only 800 sq ft, poorly laid out and they bought it 4 years ago for $120!

Wow! That's not a bad deal. Of course, if they bought something else, they paid a premium on it too so it likely ate up the appreciation that they saw.

[BoxsterSteve]

There was a local semi-detached home that made the news. It went for $300k over its $500k listed price.
People are nuts... a correction has to come, real estate prices can’t carry on like they are.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by BoxsterSteve

....
People are nuts... a correction has to come, real estate prices can’t carry on like they are.

You must be new here.... real estate always goes up, up, up ....

Stocks too

[stomachmonkey]

We are moving to Austin.

Been scouting areas for the last year.

Had an interesting opportunity last year. New subdivision in a hood we liked. Was a lease buyback.

Builder wanted to use it as a model for one year.

So basically zero cost to own for a year.

I was going to jump on it. the spousal unit thought it was ok but not what she wanted.

coulda flipped that today for an easy 20-40% profit on virtually no expense.

I hate it when i listen to my wife but in her defense, who knew.

[fireant911]

We sold our home recently. It was out in the country in beautiful northeastern Alabama... 20 minutes to the closest small city. A gentleman from Los Angeles called us, flew down to look at this, and bought it with no haggling whatsoever - we listed this home ourselves on Zillow. One of the contributing factors could have been that the property taxes on the home and 36 acres was only $300 a year??? We bought a home in Upper Michigan and are now playing about $5,200 annually on property taxes! The market up here is also crazy.