Open House Mayhem: Will it Last?

Perhaps there are glimmers of hope for anxious would-be home buyers frustrated by the dearth of existing inventory in many real estate markets (consider this CNBC report today).

The January 2015 U.S. Housing Confidence Survey (HCS)–the same survey cited in the CNBC report, and from which The Zillow Housing Confidence Index is derived–reveals that, in 13 of 20 major metro areas, a majority of the more than 6,200 homeowner households said that “now is a good time to sell a home”. The number of homeowners who agree has increased year-over-year in all but two of the cities; across all 20 metros, the figure is up 16% YoY.

“Now is a Good Time To Sell a Home”

A related finding from the latest HCS: most homeowners do not expect local property values to continue appreciating at near their recent paces. The average home value appreciation rate recorded for these 20 metro areas in 2014 was about 7 percent. Collectively, homeowners in these markets are expecting a significantly lower gain this year (3 percent average).

Time will tell if these winter sentiments translate into a surge of spring listings (and less mayhem at open houses).