Our inventory continues to shrink with only 537 active homes under 700,000 in Salt Lake County.
We see homes getting put under contract and homes selling, but we aren't seeing sufficient homes to replace those that went under contract.
We have 38 less Active homes on the market than last week.
Could be seasonality but my bet is that sellers are feeling FOMO from last year and are hesitant to put their house on the market knowing they will sell for "less".
We homeowners tend to think that "equity" in a home is real money. But the truth is, its only the possibility of money. Until you sell your home, you don't have that money. So its a mind game we play with ourselves, pretending that we "lost" money because we didn't sell when the market was "hot".
Prices are relative to the market. I talked to so many folks that didn't want to sell when the market was up because "everything else is so expensive". Those same folks are now saying they don't want to sell because "I won't get enough money".
The flaw in this thinking is that when you are staying in the same market and you sell a home to put into your next home, its a trade off, if you get more money from the sale because the market is up, you spend more money to get into your next house. If you get less money from the sale when the market is down, you spend less money to get into your next house.
The real trick is to understand your definition of value. Everyone wants to make the right decision when buying and selling a home. If you are trading up or downsizing and staying in the same market, the value is in starting the next chapter of your life in that next home. Over time, appreciation will happen.
