Listings after New Year

Buy now or be priced out forever.

Broker!

totally anecdotal, but i know two people who are planning on listing after the new year. one is moving to greenwich, the other relocating in the city.

from a broader perspective, there have been a huge number of units delisted the past six months. some may very well have just given up, but it isn't atypical for units to be pulled and to then return later. we shall see!

I am expecting more quantity and better quality listings in the new year. Best chance for sellers to get out. I am very curious to see what the second half of 2010 will look like.

How about this Steve?: 'Sell now or be listed forever!'

I've noticed more sales in my market segment in the past 2-3 months and at slightly higher prices than the spring/summer 2009. I had thought that many people wait to list their apartment until the spring, but on another discussion, Urbandigs (Noah?) indicated that February might be a more likely time. Babsie, how long have you been looking for an apartment? I've been looking since May 2008.

Not that long- correction- since May 2009.

I have been looking for the last 6 months but given I cannot spend so much for a 2 bedroom, my choices are limited.

There's typically little foot traffic between Thanksgiving and the end of the year, so there's no point in listing after early November. All it does is make your property look stale and in need of a price reduction by the time January comes. Your days on the market tick up, up, up as you lose weeks due to holidays/snow/etc.

Usually you'll see more listings and also more foot traffic beginning the week after New Year's. It's a combination of people who have waited for the new year and people looking to beat the spring rush.

If you go back and look at Curbed, Jonathan Miller did a chart a while back which showed the seasonality of sales / listings. Most sales start to increase after the beginning of the year, peak in May and then slowly taper off until December. Yes, there will be new listings.

I really hope more people will be listing apartments at more realistic prices, because the inventory I have saved in my list is 70% stale. I've been bored with the listings since last summer; I would love some new inventory.

The decline in prices is slow and needs patience. Housing prices do not go up or down like the stock market. Owners are real people who anchor themselves to numbers and would not sell lower unless they are desperate.

But rest assured: prices will go back to the 90s. Wait and rent.