Speaker 1 (00:03):

Hi, Bonnie.

Speaker 2 (00:04):

Hi Susie. Long time, no REal talk.

Speaker 1 (00:08):

I know I miss saying, “Hi, Bonnie.” <laugh>. Okay. So we thought we should just do a market update cause we haven’t done one in a while and the market has changed.

Speaker 2 (00:19):

Things are movin’ and groovin’ all the time. Yes, it feels, right now… One thing we’ve been saying is that the market feels fickle.

Speaker 1 (00:29):

I call it wobbly.

Speaker 2 (00:31):

Yeah. It’s like week to week, things are different and all of our colleagues… We’re constantly talking, you know, and getting insights and seeing what things are going for or not going for. And it, it really is kind of a week to week situation.

Speaker 1 (00:48):

For the first time we’re actually seeing homes… Some homes, like our listing last week, 90 Courter, got eight offers and yet other listings, that were awesome, didn’t get any. Yeah. So that’s the first time in a very long time we’ve experienced that.

Speaker 2 (01:04):

I think that’s attributed to… Buyers have been trained to compete hard, right? You can’t get a house unless you really put in a solid offer. And a lot of buyers feel that if they can’t compete, whatever that is in their mind, they decide not to put in an offer when they very well could have made a great offer that would’ve won the house. They just didn’t try. So again, you have to be in it to win it because you don’t know who else is out there. You don’t know what other offers are coming in. It is always a good idea to try to put your best foot forward, even if you’re not sure you’ll get the house. I mean, there’s, you really can’t, there’s nothing to lose.

Speaker 1 (01:43):

Definitely. And it is also a testament, as we have been saying, not to like, you know, pat ourselves on the back too much, but that it really does matter to have agents who are connected to other agents in the community because that’s how we have heard when homes have not gotten offers. And then our clients had an opportunity to, you know, swoop in and make an offer that got them the house.

Speaker 2 (02:06):

Yeah. Or, we know that there’s only a handful of small handful of offers going in, which also can give you an advantage, you know. Early in the season, January, February, we were seeing most homes get a lot of offers. Like we’re talking 15, 20 offers. That has really slowed down in part because a lot of people have gotten homes at this point. A lot of people have decided to wait for one reason or another or have changed course to a different area of town.

Speaker 1 (02:42):

Well, we’re also seeing, you know, that this is a particular intersection of time where it seems like clients buyers particularly are holding their breaths a little bit. And we see that when there’s a lot of volatility in the market and everyone knows that the mortgage rates have gone up with, along with the interest rates. A little asterisk, remember that interest rates and mortgage rates are not the same thing and they’re not always completely connected, but they are right now going up and people are uncertain about the stock market. People are uncertain about their jobs. So this is a great time where there is opportunity on both sides because sellers might be waiting thinking that maybe they’re not gonna get the best offers and buyers might be waiting thinking they can’t get a house. And yet sellers are still getting lots of offers and getting amazing prices for their homes. And buyers are finally able to win some bids and that’s exciting on both sides. So we are actually busier than ever, I think right now, than we were even in the first part of the year, when there was a lot more frenzy… We actually have a lot more transactions going.

Speaker 2 (03:56):

Yeah. And I would say, you know, on the seller side of things, like you mentioned, there is definitely still opportunity. One, because there’s just still not enough inventory for the amount of buyers that we have. We are seeing homes that are positioned well, priced well, and also look spectacular. Obviously those, you know the diamond of the week, those homes are flying off the shelf for continued record highs. I just ran our averages. We actually are selling homes at an average of 24% over list price this year. And that is everything we’ve closed. And then we also have a lot of things under contract that will continue that trend of 20 to 30% over asking, but the house has to be positioned well, it has to look well, it has to be staged and photographed beautifully. I feel like we do a fantastic job of that and that’s why we’re seeing those those results. You know, it is still a good time to list even though the spring market, you know, you might think it’s kind of winding down, but we generally see our spring market through July, as families are trying to move in, in time with the school year. Then again, we’ll see another bump in the fall.

Speaker 1 (05:13):

Yep. And I would say we were starting to see more activity on the buyer side. We had a quiet period where we weren’t getting as many new buyers every week, but just, in the past couple of weeks, we’ve definitely had our phones start ringing again for buyers who are looking further into the… You know, they call us and they say they don’t need to move until the end of the year, but they’re out here every weekend looking for a house. So we definitely have a lot of buyers as do our colleagues. So it is not, you know, the market has not by any means crashed. I think we have finally seen the point at which the home sale prices, the listing prices have started… Stopped escalating quite as much as they had been in the first quarter. And that’s a good thing for everybody. It’s a good for sellers, even though it may not sound like it, it actually is because buyers know that they are paying what the market value is. They don’t feel like they’re “overpaying” for a house, which you don’t want buyers to feel like anyway, there’s plenty…

Speaker 2 (06:10):

…Of Comps now to support these prices that were elevating the first quarter of the year. Now we have a lot of comps to support these prices and there’s more…

Speaker 1 (06:20):

Right. So fewer appraisal issues. Yeah. So it’s all good. It’s all good for everybody. And Bonnie, you had mentioned right before this call, a really great thing that we just learned on one of our calls. So you wanna talk about that?

Speaker 1 (06:33):

When people ask, “What’s the market look like…”

Speaker 2 (06:36):

People ask that a lot. Like, “How’s the market?” And really our answer to you is, “That depends.” It really does depend on your particular situation, whether you’re a buyer or seller, whether you’re looking for a long term home, like a forever home or a short term investment, it’s different for every person. There are lots of opportunities out there, but we would love to chat with you individually. And, you know, just to answer your questions, we do have a lot of market data. I’ve got new data coming in from my financial advisor and then there’s data coming in from the New Jersey housing experts. We have fun, lots of fun graphs. And every month we also have our market reports come in and that is town by town. And, you know, we’re happy to drill down on the data with you, if that’s important to you or also just kind of play out different scenarios. We have flow charts for if you’re trying to buy and sell at the same time. You know, we’re happy to, to work with you in your situation or just help you understand what the opportunities are.

Speaker 1 (07:34):

Yeah. Cause at the end of the day, there’s an opportunity, no matter what. And we will meet your needs wherever you are and wherever you wanna go. So definitely give us a call. The market is starting to shift, but that is not bad news and is not the sky is definitely not falling on the housing market.

Speaker 2 (07:52):

No, so, well, we wish you all a wonderful weekend. I hear it’s gonna be very hot out there tomorrow. So stay cool. I’m headed to the beach for the day, which will be fun.

Speaker 1 (08:02):

Hey, oh, one more quick thing on Sunday, we are sponsoring and supporting an event for AAPI month. It’s gonna be great. It’s an author, Jeff Yang. Who’s coming to our town to speak about his book RISE. And you can read about that on our Facebook page which is @AdamsonRamseyHomes. It’s a great opportunity to learn more about the history of Asian Americans in this country. So join us.

Speaker 2 (08:31):

Yes. And, and to add to that on Sunday, we also have an open house at a beautiful Victorian in Academy Heights, and that is 351 Academy Street. We will be open to the public from one to four. Please come by and say hi.

Speaker 1 (08:45):

Yes. Okay. Have a great weekend, everyone.

Speaker 2 (08:47):

Bye.

Speaker 1 (08:49):

Bye.