April 2021 Housing Market Update

I hope that you were able to have a great holiday weekend! I wanted to kick off this month's market report by hoping that you and your family are staying safe and encouraged through the crazy times as we fight to make it through this pandemic. The market is a heavy lean towards benefiting anyone who is selling their home right now but any smart and crafty agent will be able to find a property that suits their buyer's needs! 

If you've been staying on top of my monthly market reports, back in February, I predicted that at the beginning of March we would likely be below the magic number of 2000 houses available for sale on the market. It was a precedent that we've never been below at any point of tracking the data in our MLS. After reviewing the numbers below, we're set for a new low of fewer than 1800 homes available for sale on the market!
   

Number of Home Available for Sale Comparision          

The graph above shows that the entire MLS is hovering around 1800 or so homes total available for sale. I find that in situations like this, many REALTORS® are in an uncomfortable and unprecedented state of having plenty of qualified clients who are looking to buy homes but there aren't as many homes available on the market to fit their client's needs. It's super important to be able to find new avenues to get clients into the home that will suit their short, intermediate, and long-term needs. I've even been helping other agents who are searching for homes for their clients by providing them some of the ways that I am using to find my clients' houses that fit their goals and criteria, many of which we aren't having to outbid multiple offers in order to get them to where they want to be!

Months Supply of Homes for Sale

 

My heart almost dropped looking at the chart above. I've never ever thought I'd see such a dramatic plunge in the number of homes available for sale to the point where we're nearly less than a month's supply in some areas. I spoke to the owner of a popular title company here locally a few weeks ago and he said "If you have a client who has a rental property, now is the time to SELL it for MAXIMUM profits". I agree that the market won't give you a better value on your property than you would probably see right now. Historically, real estate is only going to get more expensive, however, if you have plans of moving off of a particular property in order to achieve other goals, now may be the time to have that initial conversation about putting it on the market!


Last week, I asked myself whether we'd see the normal SURGE of buyers attempting to purchase a home in the normally busy spring buying season. One of the indicators that I look at to gauge how 'BUSY' buyers are getting to find their next home is the number of showings per listing. The more showings that are going on for a home is a good indicator that buyers are hitting the avenues in a strong pursuit to find their next home! It's a pretty good indication of the current buyer demand but more importantly how active they are in actually getting off the computer and physically going to look at homes that they are interested in purchasing. The chart below shows the number has SKYROCKETED over the last month or so. You can also see how different this month is compared to a covid stricken March of 2020, and how the market is doing compared to the likes of 2018 and 2019 as well! 
 

Showings Per Listing

As always, I want to make you aware that I've created a special website section where you can view interactive charts of historical data for the Greater Baton Rouge real estate market! I'm continuously striving to raise the bar for REALTORS® by providing quality communication, great customer service, combined with valuable information, data, and statistics for anyone who needs it! The charts and graphs in our Market Data Center are always live and updated automatically monthly. You can see the real stats for what's going on in the Greater Baton Rouge real estate market and not just take someone's word for it! You can check out the data and see what's going on in your area by clicking the button below or CLICK HERE to schedule your initial consultation on whether now is the right time to buy or sell a home for your family!


Please wear your mask and stay safe,
Rinaldi Jacobs Jr., e-PRO®, PSA
REALTOR® & Marketing eXpert
eXp Realty, LLC
2900 Westfork Dr, Ste 401
Baton Rouge, LA 70827
Office: 225-412-9982 ext 151
Direct: 225-330-7059
Rinaldi@225avenues.com
Licensed in Louisiana