Buyers are gaining leverage

Two months ago we looked at the percent of Dane County MLS listings under contract (i.e. the percent of listings with an accepted offer).

On June 20th, 22% of all single family home listings had an accepted offer. In other words for every one single family home listing under contract, another 3.5 listings were working for an accepted offer. As of August 18th, the percent of homes under contract dipped to 17%. For every home under contract, another 5 listings were working for an accepted offer. You'll see from the chart below the percent of homes under contract has dipped for most price categories. Homes priced under $225,000 tend to have a greater percentage of listings under contract.

On June 20th, 11% of all condo listings had an accepted offer. In other words for every one condo listing under contract, another 8 listings were working for an accepted offer. As of August 18th, the percent of condos under contract dipped to 9% (for every condo under contract, another 10 listings were working for an accepted offer). Note from the table below the percent under contract is low across all price ranges, with the exception of condos priced under $150,000.




The numbers demonstrate the seasonality of the market and make it clear buyers are gaining leverage as we enter the fall season. We're seeing a lot of price reductions from sellers right now. In many cases, those sellers would have been wise to lower their prices earlier this spring or summer, when more buyers were out in the market.

For buying and selling tips, feel free to check out the buying real estate and selling real estate pages on DaneCountyMarket.com.

Have a good day,

Dan Miller, Keller Williams Realty and DaneCountyMarket.com