Buyers Gaining Upper Hand in Luxury Market

Daily Real Estate News | Thursday, June 16, 2016

The number of luxury homes for sale is growing, and that is unlocking some deals for potential buyers, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Indeed, inventory of homes priced between $500,000 to $750,000 increased nearly 16 percent in March compared to a year ago, according to data from NAR. What’s more, inventory for real estate priced more than $1 million increased 12.6 percent year-over-year.

As more expensive homes linger on the market, buyers are finding more bargaining power.

For sellers, this may be a tough realization that the power is shifting. Shannon Baird, a broker with Living Room Realty in Portland, Ore., says that a major challenge is changing the mindset of home sellers who are hearing news of quick sales and bidding wars. But that’s not the case in the upper price bracket in many markets.

Stock market volatility has made some wealthy buyers more cautious to jump into a big home purchase at the moment. Also, fewer foreign buyers are on the market as the dollar strengthens, says Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

“The stock market has come back up, but we don’t know yet if that means the upper-end home buying market will begin to return,” Yun says.

Source: “Lagging Demand for Luxury Homes May Mean Deals for Buyers,” The Wall Street Journal (June 15, 2016)