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Even in this abnormal, post-pandemic era of homebuying, some seasonal trends still shine through — including the perils of overpricing a home in the slower fall months.
Twenty-four percent homes that are considered significantly overpriced according to Opendoor’s internal valuation model end up being delisted in the fall months, compared to 19 percent throughout the rest of the year, the iBuyer stated this week in a new report. The analysis was based on MLS listings in more than 50 of the markets in which Opendoor operated throughout 2021 and 2022.
For homes priced in a more appropriate price range — listed no more than 10 percent higher than the model’s valuation — delist rates were 14 percent in the fall and 10 percent throughout the remainder of the year.
It’s a reminder of how important it is to get the list price correct up front, especially at this time of year.
“I recommend clients dial into three aspects of the selling triangle: Pricing correctly, the house’s in-person presentation and online presentation,” Ramon Casaus, an Opendoor agent partner, said in a statement accompanying the report. “With that triangle, if each one of those is done right, every home will sell.”
The report also found some signs that the market is behaving differently than in years past — in a manner that may continue to push up prices even in the housing market’s slower months.
The report stated that in 2021 and 2022, Opendoor experienced no dropoff in buyer interest in its homes during the transition from summer to fall. That’s a very different dynamic from before the pandemic began, when Opendoor reported summer-to-fall demand dropoffs of 34 percent in 2018 and 15 percent in 2019 in the average daily visits by agents per Opendoor listing.
This sustained demand deep into the fall in recent years, coupled with the typical drop in new listings, has made it tougher for the number of active listings on the market to recover as it typically does in the late summer and fall.
Even though “new listings decline on average 21 percent in the fall, demand from buyers has increased since 2020,” Opendoor’s report reads. “In other words, there have still been just as many buyers looking in the fall — people we’re calling ‘Anytime Buyers.’ This is a new trend that has popped up in recent years.”
And those so-called “anytime buyers” may be the key to propping up home prices further in the otherwise slow winter months.
