American Dream?
Writing about Williamstown Real Estate and Berkshire county in general we do not foresee auctions on the rise but we do see real estate activity on the upswing. The increase in real estate sales activity will be welcome news for Berkshire County sellers who have endured some pretty lean years since the bubble burst in '08.
Berkshire Real Estate Sales volume had dropped substantially until the tax incentives helped lift volume last winter and prices have generally taken a beating but we think the worst is behind us now.
This is not to say that the Williamstown real estate and Berkshire Real Estate market will shift rapidly from a buyer's market to a seller's again this year or any time soon but what we wish to emphasize is that the best breaks for most buyers may soon be gone come spring. April is historically the most active month of the year for properties to go under contract, particularly in the northern states where winter weather can keep people indoors.
If this coming April turns out like most years, then we would expect a pretty active buyer pool which will typically grab the best properties first, leaving those sellers and their agents who still haven't adjusted to the "new reality" scratching their heads wondering why their property hasn't sold.
There is no mystery however. If a property remains unsold for more than a reasonable period of time which come spring, would be only a month or two, then the only reason and remedy is price. It's that simple.
I like the analogy of an apple tree for our real estate market this season. Let's consider this a year when there are lots of apples on the trees just as we expect there will be plenty of listings for buyers to choose from. One tree loaded with apples sits on one side of a wall and belongs to a farmer with two children. They are young children and so can only pick the lower apples and only the ones they can readily eat so that there are plenty of apples on the tree which eventually fall to the ground and rot.
The other tree on the other side of the wall belongs to a young farmer with loads of children and they invite all their friends to come pick apples any time which they do, for pies and canning and eating so that the tree is picked bare and none go to waste. They used ladders too so every good apple was picked.
And so it is with real estate. If there are loads of buyers, all the homes and properties are sold but if there are too few buyers for the number of homes or properties, then many will remain unsold, particularly the ones that at too high, in price that is.
If you are a seller, the lesson this year will be one of pricing to the market, from the beginning of the season so that your property is one of the lucky ones to be picked. I expect there will still be quite a few unpicked apples by the end of the season.
If you are a buyer, there should be plenty of fruit to choose from but getting there early so you can pick from the best priced properties will make a difference and that is why we say "going, going, gone".