Home buyers offered more choices as real estate market swings in
opposite direction
Gilroy – The housing market in recent years has been a seller’s paradise: a home goes up for sale and within hours offers are pouring in. But the market has started to swing the other way, real estate agents say.
“We are no longer in a state where the second you see it you must put in an offer. Buyers can take their time,” said Edwin Resuello, president of the Santa Clara County Association of Realtors.
With more inventory on the market, sellers are starting to lower home prices to stay competitive, real estate agents said. Buyers have even started to negotiate with sellers on the asking price, which hadn’t been the case in the recent past, Resuello said.
In May, 276 homes were up for sale in Gilroy compared to 149 in the same month last year. April was similar with 256 homes on the market compared to 146 the prior year. Homes that stayed on the market for two to four weeks last year now could take up to three months to sell, said Patty Filice, a broker associate for Intero Real Estate Services.
“This feels like a normal market. It might be weighted more toward the buyer, but (homes do) stay on the market longer in a normal market,” Filice said. “But we’ve forgotten what a normal market is like.”
Sheila White, an agent for Starritt Realtors, agreed that sellers are no longer controlling the market.
“Last year, if you put (a home) on the market you would get attention very quickly,” White said. “But that’s not happening anymore.”
Median home prices stood in the $500,000 range in spring 2004. That price jumped into the $700,000-range last spring and has settled there, largely due to increasing interest rates which raise the borrowing cost for a home.
No real estate agent’s crystal ball is completely clear, but some are saying that this trend should continue into the foreseeable future. Home prices have appreciated 10 to 20 percent in the past few years, well above the normal rate of increase of about 5 percent, Filice said. While she predicted home prices would continue to gain in value, the single-digit increases will be at a more reasonable rate.
Although the market has finally started to balance out, Filice advises potential home buyers to be smart while looking at homes. She said to do the homework, talk to an agent and make sure to have finances in order.
