More homes hit market, even as inventory falls | Inside Real Estate ...

Highlights:

• More homes hitting the market, despite record-low inventory.
• New listings are being absorbed almost immediately.
• Bidding wars driving up prices.

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The renovated kitchen helped launch a bidding war for this home priced at $435,000.

There were only 6,786 homes on the market in the Denver area at the end of February, the fewest number of homes for sale in memory.

Yet, more homes came on the market in the first two months of 2013 than during the first two months of 2012, Chris Mygatt, president of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage of Colorado, ?told about 2,000 people last week.

In January and February of 2012, 8,111 new active listings came on the market, while 8,258 new listings hit the market during the same period this year, Mygatt told people attending the Colorado Real Estate & Economic Summit, that was sponsored by Coldwell Banker last Thursday.

By contrast, the number of unsold homes on the market is down 32.7 percent from February 2012, according to Metrolist

?The concept is that even though we are off significantly this year versus last year in terms of unsold homes on the market, the reality is at this moment in time, we are actually bringing more homes on the market in 2013 than we did in 2012,? Mygatt said.

Contracts for homes in the first two months of the year hit 9,464, a 23.9 percent jump from the 7,636 during the same period in 2012.

Closings were up 19.2 percent, rising to 5,920 from 4,966.

?Really, we are seeing record numbers of sales,? Mygatt said, following the conference at the PPA Convention and Events Center, near Sports Authority Field at Mile High.

?We are bringing a significant number of homes on to the market and they are being absorbed almost instantaneously,? Mygatt said.

Home are selling fast, often above the asking price.

Chuck Fetterhoff, a broker in Coldwell Banker?s Denver Tech Center office, said that last week an agent in his office put a home on the market along the southeast Denver corridor for just under $200,000.

?Forty people looked at it and by the end of the day he had an all-cash offer for $240,000,? Fetterhoff said.

The feeding frenzy isn?t just for lower-priced homes.

In two days last week, Ann Atkinson had an open house for a 2,604-square-foot, Denver Square in City Park South priced at $435,000.

In two days, more than 40 people ? ?all of them serious buyers? ? looked at the three bedroom, three bathroom home, before she ended the open house.

One prospective buyer considered in flying in from out of state, but demurred because it seemed unlikely he would land the winning bid. Others bowed out because $435,000 was the top of what they could pay, and it was clear the price was headed higher.

?We ended up with seven offers,? said Atkinson, a broker with Fuller Sotheby?s International Realty.

?All of them were substantially above the asking price,? and there is a back-up buyer in place, in case the first deal doesn?t close.

Choosing a winner was as tough for the sellers as for the judges during the finale of American Idol or the Voice.

?We didn?t want to eliminate anyone,? Atkinson said. ?It was an amazingly difficult situation to pick a winner. But I told my sellers, you only have one home to sell. All of the bidders were wonderful people and were all qualified buyers. They sent us photos of their families and they were all represented by wonderful Realtors, who worked really hard.?

Atkinson, a 28-year veteran of selling homes, said while she has seen good market and bad market cycles, there has never one like this, which seemed to change on a dime.

?It just came on so suddenly,? Atkinson said. ?This one just slammed in.?

She said she is representing more buyers than she ever has, while she has fewer listings than ever.

?As soon as I get a listing it is sold,? Atkinson said. ?It is exciting working with sellers, but it is frustrating for buyers.?

The market is especially difficult for owners whose homes aren?t selling, Mygatt said.

?They get angry,? Mygatt said. ?They say wait a minute, my home isn?t selling. What are you talking about??

Mygatt said it isn?t like there are no homes on the market, despite the record-low inventory levels.

?There are 6,786 homes on the marked that have failed to sell,? Mygatt said.

?People are looking at the best, even in a market like this,? Mygatt said. ?They want homes that look good and aren?t over-priced that provide value. The homes that are left on the market are extremely picked over.?

Sellers that try to take advantage of the market and raise the asking price, often are disappointed. Rather, he said price it at the market or slightly below. In this market, the price often exceeds the asking price anyway, but a high asking price can turn off prospective buyers, he said.

Mygatt suggested that owners take homes off the market that are not selling and spruce them up, before re-listing them.

?When a buyer walks into a home, you want them to turn to their agent and ask: ?What will it take to get his house? You do not want them to ask, ?What do you think they will take for this house??

Have a story idea or real estate tip? Contact John Rebchook at? JRCHOOK@gmail.com. InsideRealEstateNews.com is sponsored by Universal Lending, Land Title Guarantee and 8z Real Estate. To read more articles by John Rebchook, subscribe to the Colorado Real Estate Journal.

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Source: http://insiderealestatenews.com/2013/03/more-homes-coming-on-market-despite-low-inventory/

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