After the year the world has endured, with the pandemic, the dysfunctional presidential election, civil unrest coupled with racism and riots, all I can say is, “wow.”
It would appear this would be enough, but no. Now the housing market has gone mad.
It’s a race to the finish with sellers in the lead.
Home purchases are the highest that I have ever witnessed, and I have been in this industry for more than 30 years. With interest rates being the lowest ever (2-4%), and because there are more buyers than homes, the demand has reached an all-time high, which has created a shortage in inventory, as well as an escalation in offers on properties.
There are many properties for sale that have as many or more than 40 offers at one time, therefore creating a bidding war. It’s a domino effect for this gouging bidding war that purchasers are unknowingly creating has caused prices of homes to skyrocket far beyond market values. It’s good for the seller right now because they are selling their home in one day, with purchasers offering cash, and some offering up to $30,000 beyond the appraised value. This bidding war has pushed many credit-qualified, deserving home purchasers out of the market, simply because they cannot compete.
There was a time that one would offer $200,000 for value, and if the property’s appraised value came in less, the seller would lower the price to that value because for those financing the purchase with a mortgage, the lender would only lend to…
