For every agent and broker, clients who are sellers were on top of the world at the end of 2017 with profits adding up.
A recent report by ATTOM Data Solutions found that sellers pocketed an average $54,000 over what they originally paid for their homes during the last quarter of 2017. This marked an increase of 0.49 percent over the previous quarter and nearly 14.6 percent over the same quarter the previous year.
According to Daren Blomquist, senior vice president of ATTOM, this is the most that these clients have netted in a decade.
“If you’re selling, you’re taking advantage of a red-hot housing market with low supply, high demand, and fast-appreciating home prices in many areas.”
In developing its data, ATTOM compared the median home prices in the last quarter of the year to just over eight years ago. The company also reviewed recorded sales deeds, foreclosure filings, and loan data for its report. Only metros with sufficient historical data and a large enough population, mostly 200,000 and up, were included.
The report indicated that agents on the West Coast saw clients who fared best. Sellers in Silicon Valley’s uber-pricey San Jose, Calif., scored the biggest profits, of about 90.9 percent. That was followed by San Francisco, at 73.3 percent; Merced, Calif., at 64.6 percent; and Seattle, at 64.4 percent.
In a statement, Blomquist offered his take on that trend.
“Those are the markets that were more insulated from the downturn, because many of them are highly desirable, on the coast with well-paying jobs. They were the first to recover when things turned around.”
Blomquist added that more than half of the metro markets included in the ATTOM analysis experienced record-high home prices last year. These markets included San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston and Atlanta.
However, many clients are resisting the temptation to sell and high prices are forcing them to stay put. Many fear that after they sell their home, they won’t be able to afford a new place to live.
Agents in several markets are seeing more all-cash sales. These transactions made up 29 percent of single-family home and condo sales last year, according to ATTOM data.
The metros with the most all-cash deals included Mobile, Ala., (69.8 percent); Binghamton, N.Y., (60.9 percent); Macon, Ga., (57.7 percent); and Columbus, Ga., (56.2 percent).
Blomquest said this ensures competition among clients.
“If you’re a buyer in this housing market, it’s a full-contact sport. The buyers with the most cash often win.”
