The following is the most recent news relating to home sales. As in any business, when slow downs occur you have to start thinking outside the box. For those realtors who have not worked home staging into their listings - it is time to think outside the box. Why would you disregard something that can only help your listings; not hurt them? Why would you want your sellers to drop the sale price by 5% when home staging might only cost them 1% of their sale price (and that's depending on what they need done)? This is the time to be proactive with your listings. Do yourself and your sellers a favor and consider home staging for your listings.
Realtors Group Foresees 8.6 Percent Drop in Existing Home Sales in 2007
WASHINGTON (AP) -- A trade group for real estate agents on Tuesday lowered its forecast 2007 existing home sales for the seventh-straight month, predicting a drop of 8.6 percent from last year.
The National Association of Realtors' revised monthly prediction calls for U.S. existing home sales of 5.9 million in 2007, down from 6.5 million last year. The forecast was below last month's prediction of a 6.8 percent drop.
This year's sales would be the lowest since 2002, when sales hit 5.6 million. Home sale prices this year are forecast to drop 1.7 percent to a median of $218,200.
Next year, the trade group expects existing home sales to climb to 6.3 million. It forecasts new home sales will fall 24 percent to 801,000 this year and 741,000 next year.
~Updated~
Courtesy of Home Staging Resource:
- U.S. Housing and Urban Development reports that a staged house sells, on average, 17% higher than a non-staged house.
- The New York Village Voice reported that the average number of days on the market for a staged house was 13.9 versus 30.9 days for an unstaged house.
- In a 2003 HomeGain Survey, sellers who spent up to $1000.00 staging their home recovered almost 200% of the cost in the sale of their home.
In addition, the first reduction in price is about 5%, while your staging investment can be about 1%. Why lower your price if you don't have to. Also, you can get a consultation report and do the work yourself. Reports vary from stager to stager and state to state, but can run anywhere from $200-500.00.
