By Allen Henderson
Guest Writer
The November real estate sales snapshot for Chandler indicates that the average sale price rose to $420,238 – up 9.7 percent over the same period in 2019, when the average home value was $382,786.
The November number of units sold is up 18.8 percent with 417 units sold versus 351 units a year earlier.
Homes sold faster in 2020 with average days on market dropping to 29 days versus 44 days in 2019.
Buyers are continuing to step up with higher offers to get prime properties. However, some buyers are not willing to overpay to get a property. The number of November listings that required a price reduction to get an offer declined to 126 units, or 30 percent of the closed listings.
Prices and the number of units sold are up while the number of listings requiring a price reduction to get an offer is declining.
Moving from the monthly snapshot of the market to the bigger picture, between Jan. 1 and Nov. 30, the average Chandler sale price was $404,619. This is up 12.1 percent over the same period in 2019, when the average sale price was $360,939.
The number of units sold remains about the same with 4,575 units sold in 2020 versus 4,518 units sold in 2019.
This market is still hot. The Chandler listing inventory is hovering around 200 units and many buyers are frustrated with the lack of inventory.
Many sellers are still insisting on pricing their properties up to 10 percent over the listing price of comparable sales.
Even in a hot market, buyers are letting sellers know that they are not going to overpay to get a property.
Buyers will offer a few points above what the comparable sale data would indicate. However, they are not going to overpay.
If they did, it would still have to appraise. Appraisers will come up a few points over comparable sales values, but they will not appraise property at a price that is unreasonable and unsupportable.
Sellers would be better served to ask no more than 5 percent over the list price indicated by comparable sales.
To list higher will extend time on the market and, in many cases, the property will sell for less than if it had been listed more accurately from day one of the listing – when the buyer’s interest is at a peak.
Average days on market for sold listings in November was 29 days. Nicely appointed houses are going under contract in hours and days.
If a nice property stays on the market longer than comparable properties, there is a pricing issue and a price reduction is in order to get an offer.
The old real estate axiom, location, location, location and price, price, price, always holds true. Our advice is consistent: Always price it right the first time to get it sold faster and for more.
There are 199 active listings in the Chandler market today. We are averaging 416 closed sales per month in 2020.
With 416 units selling per month, the 199 active listings will be depleted in less than 15 days. Anything less than a six-month inventory is considered to be a sellers’ market.
The Chandler market remains a very strong sellers’ market.
With the holidays upon us, we anticipate that the listing inventory will go down as potential sellers wait for the new year to list.
The market may slow in December but the prospects for a strong January market are high as home buyers and home sellers enjoy this unusually strong market.
There were only three sales of properties over $1 million in November.
Today, there are 24 active listings for million-dollar-plus properties.
There have been 53 sales of million-dollar-plus properties in Chandler in 2020. They were on the market an average of 92 days and 28 percent required a price reduction to get a sale.
In the luxury market from $600,000-$999,999, there have been 387 sales in 2020. The average sale in this price range was $708,639. Marketing time on average was 61 days.
In the $500,000-$599,000 price-range, there have been 432 sales at an average price of $540,945 with an average time on the market of 45 days.
In the $400,000-$499,000 price-range, there were 859 sales at an average price of $442,745 in the first 11 months of this year. Marketing time on average was 43 days.
In the $300,000-$399,000 price-range, there have been 1,657 sales at an average price of $344,048 so far in 2020. Marketing time on average was 33 days.
In the under-$299,000 market, 1,026 homes sold at an average $246,908 in 2020. Marketing time on average was 28 days.
In summary, the highest number of sales was in the $300,000-$399,000 price- range. Further, 3,974 properties – or 78 percent of the total closed sales in Chandler this year – were for properties under $500,000.
As expected, we see that the marketing time, calculated as the number of days on the market, increase with a higher price point.
The economic outlook continues to be strong. Demand is high and increasing for homes in Chandler.
Interest rates are low and the Federal Reserve has indicated it is not anticipating interest rate increases in the short term.
Phoenix is ranked number three in the country for job creation. Despite some rumblings about a downturn in the national real estate market, the outlook appears to be mostly positive in Chandler and the Valley.
Of course, the political situation is always a wild card as Washington reacts to the virus, social unrest and international trade issues.
All in all, there has never been a better time to sell a Chandler property for a great price and quickly. We know that every home is unique.
If you have any questions or if you need a free professional consultation, local Realtor Allen Henderson can be reached at 480-392-2090.
