The Return of the “Sidelined” Seller

• July 27, 2010
• 3 Comments

by Mark Wellborn

Home owners who have refrained from putting their house or condo up for sale may change their mind in the coming months, according to The Wall Street Journal.

An article on the WSJ’s Developments blog notes that as home prices stabilize in metro markets around the country, these owners may decide that it is time to list their home.

The article points to stats from the National Association of Realtors that say the inventories of unsold homes increased in June from to 8.9 months of supply from 8.3 months the previous month.

A flood of sellers to the market combined with an influx of shadow inventory could result in a drastic increase in homes available for sale, as no one really knows how many potential sellers have been sitting on the sidelines.

This new inventory may be a good thing for the DC area.

On Monday, just 20 homes came on the market in DC proper. Given that we are in the midst of the slow real estate season, that number may seem reasonable. But it is well below the 50 properties that regularly hit the market on a daily basis.

This article originally published at https://dc.urbanturf.com/articles/blog/the_return_of_the_sidelined_seller/2304

3 Comments

1. SL said at 9:45 pm on Tuesday July 27, 2010:
   Count me in as a sidelined seller in DC. I would love to sell my house but bought at the peak in 2005. In the meantime, I'm renting out the house until I can break even with a sale. I'm guessing it will be 1-2 more years...not quite the few months cited here.

1. RO said at 1:09 pm on Wednesday July 28, 2010:
   We are sidelined sellers, but also current buyers (luckily we can afford a 2nd house). We plan to rent our condo and look for something bigger. We are hoping for more inventory in Fall because there is nothing to look at now... Anyone have guesses on whether interest rates will stay as low as they are?

1. Tom A. said at 8:42 pm on Thursday August 5, 2010:
   I'm putting my house on the market the very day the light rail starts moving down H Street! I just can't sell the X2 as a reasonable method of public transit.