Selling a home in the current housing market is easier said than done, but some in the Northern Kentucky real estate market remain optimistic.
A 5.5 percent increase in home sales between April and May hints the housing market is showing signs of improvement, according to a recent report released by the Northern Kentucky Association of Realtors. Also released in the report were numbers suggesting the housing market as a whole still remains stagnant. Both sales and average home prices are down 21 percent from April and May one year ago.
The Florence-based Sibcy Cline office is seeing a significant rebound from June 2008. This month, sales are up 50 percent from this time last year, said Kathy Schramm, vice president and sales manager of the Sibcy Cline Florence office.
“Thank goodness we are seeing an enormous rebound this month,” Schramm said. “We saw, as a company, a rebound in the April and May months, and we’ve seen multiple offers. We track 32,000 page views on a weekly basis on our Web site. We track everything.”
Schramm attributes this rebound to a slight revival of consumer confidence in the economy. Americans have now figured out they are facing challenges, but they have to move on, Schramm said.
Homeowners looking to sell are experiencing some setbacks. From falling home prices to tighter restrictions from lenders to purchase a home, sellers and buyers alike are having a tough time navigating the current housing market environment.
One prospective seller, Chris Nieman, a salesman from Fort Mitchell, put his home on the market in early June and has already lowered the asking price by approximately 7 percent to accommodate current housing market conditions. Nieman elected to sell the house on his own instead of hiring a Realtor because of the faith he put into the area.
“I think a Fort Mitchell house, because of the Beechwood school district, I didn’t think I needed to pay a realtor,” Nieman said. “Historically, [in this area] you stick the sign in the yard and it’s gone. Of course this is pre-crash.”
Despite how fast the 150 flyers for the house were taken, Nieman was surprised at the low number of call backs he received about the house. The initial asking price for the house was $295,000 and in a few short weeks, Nieman already lowered the asking price by $20,000.
Nieman believes before the housing market crash, a five-bedroom house in Fort Mitchell would have sold for $300,000 instantly. Now he will be depending on a variety of economic factors to help sell the house, despite the overall grim economic picture.
“My theory is because of the tough economy, that sending kids to private schools is getting tougher and tougher, which makes a Beechwood school district house that much more valuable,” Nieman said as he explained on of his selling points. “My contention is that it should offset some of that private school pressure.”
Nieman has no plans to lower the asking price anytime soon. With the house completely paid off, there is not an urgent need to sell the house. He didn’t receive much feedback when the house was priced at $295,000. So far he’s had little interest after lowering the asking price to $275,000.
“We didn’t get enough hits at [$295,000]. We had tons of people wanting a flyer, but nobody wanted to come and see it,” Nieman said. “Perhaps the price is too high and no one wants to come and see it no matter what it looks like inside.”
Nieman has set a self-imposed deadline of September for the house to sell. If the house is still on the market then, he said it will be time to lower the price again.
“A bad market, always follows a badder market,” Schramm said. “People get tired of waiting for the market to get better and move on with their lives. If you to want move, you need to move.”
Schramm and other realtors understand people’s apprehension with the market, but she contends that people need to be patient and more frugal as a whole.
“This is a recovery market, and we’re all kind of catching our breath,” Schramm said. “Are you emptying out the stuff in the back of your cabinet? We all are.”
Inventories vary from area to area, Schramm said. Overall, however, there needs to be more houses on the market, she said. Some areas are currently seeing a manageable three-month inventory while others are seeing a two-year inventory. In other words, it will take two years for realtors to sell or “burn through” the homes currently on the market.
Real estate agents in Northern Kentucky are employing new strategies to help sell homes and encouraging people to get past recession setbacks.
Through the use of their Web site and professional photography, Schramm believes sellers need to make their property as marketable as possible.
“Some things never change, but it’s more important than ever to keep the house in top shape,” Schramm said. “You’ve got to go in and replace those old faucets with brushed nickel. Now more than ever, it’s got to be clean, it’s got to smell good.”
