I see it evey day on the 24 hour watch I have set up in the MLS - more price reductions than new listings in Snohomish County. Why? Here is what I am observing. We currently have at least a 1o month supply of inventory available to today's buyer and not enough active buyers to consume that amount of inventory. So sellers and agents are becoming desperate to sell their homes, hence the prices drop. I believe that this market is more about time on the market than price. Let's say you have six homes in one neighborhood with simular floor plans and lot sizes all priced within $5,000 of each other to start. Thirty days later you have one seller that is desperate to sell their home, they drop their price by $20,000, and in 30 more days their home goes under contract. What options do the other 5 sellers have? Is the market value really $20,000 below what they are on the market for? In the buyer's eyes they see the home that is under contract for $20,000 less than the other homes and think this is market value. Is it? In my opinion, no! The home under contract didn't have the patience to wait for their home to be exposed to the market and had to sell in a short amount of time. Even if the other 5 homes reduce their prices by $20,000, there are not enough active buyers to buy the remaining 5 homes. Just because we have sellers and agents that are lowering their prices out of desperation does not mean that the rest of the homes have to follow suit. Again, in this market where there are few active buyers, it is more time than price. Don't get me wrong, you do need to be competitively priced, but you don't have to give your house away to get it sold!

If you'd like an honest evaluation of the value of your home in today's market, give me a call.