The market for single-family homes and condos in the $2M+ range is already showing signs of annual holiday lag, and it’s not even Thanksgiving yet. A total of 53 houses and 32 condos awaits buyers in this segment of the market.
The houses have been on the market for 74 days or longer, and the condos for 92 days. There may be a few buyers out there who will swoop in between now and the end of 2013 with successful offers, but my bet is that a majority of luxury homes currently available will be greeting the new year in the MLS.
What this means for sellers is that this isn’t the best time to add your property to the luxury home glut unless you are priced very realistically. It’s not the time to test the market or expect buyers to overpay. And buyers should view this time period as an excellent opportunity in which to pick up a great home for perhaps less than they would have paid earlier in the year.
The serious sellers of the bunch will make price reductions, particularly if their home has been on the market for 30 days or longer. Approximately 30% and 31% of the sellers of currently available single-family homes and condos, respectively, have already done price reductions. That means there are quite a few properties out there that may have room to move on price.