Every year, Gallup surveys Americans to determine their choice for the best long-term investment. Respondents are given a choice between real estate, stocks/mutual funds, gold, savings accounts/CDs, or bonds.
For the fifth year in a row, real estate has come out on top as the best long-term investment!
This year’s results showed that 34% of Americans chose real estate, followed by stocks at 26%. The full results are shown in the chart below.
The study makes it a point to draw attention to the contrast in the sentiment over the last five years compared to that of 2011-2012, when gold took the top slot with 34% of the votes. Real estate and stocks took second and third place, respectively, while still in recovery from the Great Recession. As the real estate market has recovered, so has the belief of the American people in the stability of housing as a long-term investment.
What home sellers can expect in Summer 2018: The market is still in your favor if the price is right
Here’s the good news: Homes will continue to be a hot commodity through 2018. There aren’t enough people selling (thanks to a combination of factors, led by locking in extremely low interest rates and rising home prices). In some neighborhoods in our area you can drive an entire tract without seeing a “for sale” sign. Homeowners in our hot communities receive almost instant offers.
When it comes to pricing your home, we usually talk about the three types of sellers: Someone who is desperate and anxious and must sell as soon as possible; someone who has a “pie in the sky” view of their home value; and someone who is realistic about what the market will bear and is willing to price their home accordingly. This year, given how overheated (some economists say) the market is, some are not sure any price a seller could dream up would be too high. Some housing economists, like Nobel Prize winner Robert Shiller, say general impressions about the inherent risk of buying a home can indicate the presence of a bubble. At a conference in early December, Shiller noted the return of what he called the “buyer’s panic,” where potential buyers fear they will be priced out if they don’t purchase a home soon. “It’s not just interest rates and tax law that drive prices in speculative markets,” Shiller said.
Choosing the right price is the key to having a great selling experience. If you price your home too high, even in a hot market, it’ll sit on the market, growing stale, until you reprice it. If you price it too low, it should ignite a bidding war.
Remember, a successful sale means everyone walks away feeling happy. If you get so greedy that the buyer walks away, you’ve let the deal get the best of you. Resolve to be reasonable, and you’ll end up shaking hands with the buyer at the closing. You should also know there aren’t unlimited buyers out there, and if you lose one it might take you quite some time to find another.