What is going on in the market now?
Cape Cod is a seller’s market at the moment with no end sight. It is common to see properties going under agreement with multiple offers.
COVID has forced many people to work from home. And if you are working from home, it seems that many have decided that working from home on Cape Cod is more desirable than from the city. Our rental market, which is always stressed under normal circumstances, is inundated.
This has made it a wonderful time to sell your home on the Cape… that is, if you don’t also want to purchase another house on the Cape.
With tight inventory, sellers who are looking to upgrade or downsize, but stay in the area, are deciding to stay put until there are more options on the market. Home improvement contractors are having a banner year while home owners seek to improve their homes rather than sell.
Combining those two factors, an increase in buyers with a decrease in inventory, and bidding wars are a common occurrence. A buyer may end up paying more than the house will appraise given the swift change in the market. For this reason, a buyer’s ability to put additional funds down or pay cash can make an offer more desirable to sellers.
However, the future is anything but certain.
Inflation is starting to creep up and unemployment figures don’t tell the whole story. The number of people on regular unemployment has decreased while the number who have transitioned to the pandemic unemployment insurance has risen. It is hard to know whether the current market will hold, but the Cape is a unique market with primary homeowners, 2nd homeowners and vacation rentals. Year round rentals have always been tight and have become more so due to increased demand. It may take some time for the market to level off.