Get Real with Doug Robinson: Saline County- A Great Place to Call Home

Saline County- A Great Place to Call Home

The housing market in Saline County is booming during the Covid-19 pandemic but bigger cities across the country are not faring so well.

Bigger cities like New York and Los Angeles in particular are struggling with falling home prices, values in less populated cities like Little Rock, are holding up fairly well.

Many Americans are still spending an inordinate share of their time at home due to remote work policies during the crisis and are starting to hunt for houses with more indoor and outdoor space.

Also underpinning strong home sales are the historic low mortgage rates. In the four weeks ending September 20th, home sales were up 13.6% in the Suburbs, 13% in rural areas and only 8% in rural areas. Home prices rose 16.6% in rural areas, 13.7% in suburbs and 13.1% in urban districts according to a Redfin study.

Enter Saline County. We have a low inventory of homes for Sale and this is driving prices. Construction costs have risen sharply so that affects the cost of New Construction dramatically. That one fact is driving buyers into the existing home market.

The Real Estate market in Saline County is currently sitting on a 24 day inventory. Let that sink in. That means that if there were no new houses coming on the market we would run out of houses for sale in less than a month! The number of homes for sale has dropped around 20% from this time last year.

ShowingTime, a leading real estate showing software and market stat service provider, just reported that buyer traffic jumped 60.7% compared to this time last year. That’s a huge increase.

It’s clear that buyers are ready, willing, and able to purchase – and they’re in the market right now. In many parts of the county, multiple buyers are entering bidding wars to compete for the home they want.

The part of the market that is the tightest is for first time homebuyers. The search for step up homes is a bit easier. You’ve likely spent much of the last six months in your current home. Perhaps you now realize how small it is, and you need more space. If you’re working from home, your children are doing virtual school, or you just need more space, your current floor plan may not work for your family’s changing needs. It may be time to consider moving up to a larger home while maximizing rising prices for starter homes and taking advantage of very low interest rates.

Zillow’s economists have adjusted their expectations from a previous forecast and now suggest that home prices will rise 4.8% between August 2020 and August 2021.

Here are some current market stats for Saline County:

Homes for sale under $200,000…. 42
Homes for sale over $200,000…. 81
Median list price …. $275,400
Median days on market…. 27

The housing market is prime for sellers right now, so reach out me and my team to get the process started this fall. If the timing is right for you and your family, the market is calling your name.

Thinking about buying or selling a home? I can help make the process easy, get in touch today!

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