After it appeared this year’s snow and ice storms had run their course, Matt and Rachel Grossman got busy staining their backyard deck and putting a fresh coat of paint on the exterior of their Mars townhome — in time for the spring buying season.
“This time of year is obviously great for selling,” Mr. Grossman said. ”We wanted to time our listing just right. We felt the beginning of spring was just right.”
Pittsburghers, along with much of the country, think this is the time of year to strike for residential real estate sales. Data collected by RealSTATs, a South Side-based real estate information service, shows that not only did the number of home sales increase during the spring months, the average sale price for existing homes is also higher in the spring as opposed to December.
For instance, in 2015, 5,147 existing homes sold in the Pittsburgh region around December, while 9,233 existing homes sold around April. Also, the average sales price for existing residential homes in the region around December was $149,618, but around April the average price jumped to $177,515.
Those patterns don’t hold true in every part of the country, especially those regions where snowbirds flock during winter months. But here, springtime brings out the daffodils and home buyers.
The Grossmans put their three-bedroom, 2,000-square-foot townhome on the market in early March and they’ve averaged about one showing a day since then.
“If we had listed in the winter, I’m not sure the showings would be that high,” Mr. Grossman said, adding that two townhome units on their street recently sold in less than a week.
The school calendar is a big factor in the spring real estate fever. Many families prefer to be in a position to close by mid-to-late summer at the latest, so they can move in and settle down before the start of a new school year.
“The market tends to slow down in the winter because of the weather, the holidays and the fact that kids are in school,” said Dan Murrer, vice president of RealSTATs. “Things pick up in the spring because the weather is nicer and the kids will soon be out of school, if not already.”
Patterns shift in other climates
Real estate industry professionals say metropolitan areas such as Phoenix and Miami have less pronounced peaks and valleys for real estate sales due to their year-round warm weather. Also, because these cities also tend to be retirement locations, fewer buyers in these areas have children, which allows them to buy and sell without being as concerned about school schedules.
Lynda Fernandez, senior vice president of public relations for the Miami Association of Realtors, said home sales activity in Miami typically goes up in the summer months and always spikes in December.
“We are a market that attracts a lot of people from the Northeast. So we see a lot of interest when there are snowstorms and harsh winter weather,” Ms. Fernandez said. ”This year, the winter up north has not been as severe. We’re not seeing as much of a spike in interest in property searches.”
Watching the rates
Spring home shopping in the Pittsburgh region has been strong in recent years in part because of pent up demand after the recession and lower interest rates. While we didn’t see a severe drop in home prices here, banks nationwide tightened credit requirements to the point that only buyers with stellar credit could qualify for a mortgage during the housing crisis.
Mortgage rates were beginning to tick up last year and there was talk of the good times being over.
Instead, interest rates have remained low. Home shoppers with the best credit histories can obtain a 30-year fixed rate mortgage for 3.58 percent, according to Bankrate.com, which still makes home ownership a compelling option.
Although the Pittsburgh region is coming off a mild winter and the supply of housing inventory this spring is lower than it has been in previous years, the typical annual bell curve has not changed. If anything, the pace of home buying has recently picked up, said Ron Croushore, president of West Penn Multi-List, Inc., and owner of Berkshire Hathaway Home Services The Preferred Realty, Pittsburgh.
“There’s a little more urgency [on the part of buyers] because there is talk about rates going up a quarter to a half percent,” Mr. Croushore said.
“With the inventory being so low, it’s a good time to list your home,” he said. ”If you put it on the market and it’s competitively priced, you’ll have more people looking at it today than you would have four years ago. And your prices may be better.”
Staci Titsworth, a vice president at PNC Mortgage, Downtown, said the number of mortgage applications and consumers seeking pre-approval to buy homes has been increasing since the beginning of the year.
“This is our time in the business,” she said. “This is like Christmas to us. The buyers are happy. The sun is out. People are excited and the great weather triggers people to think about buying another home or a second home.”
She said during her 25 years in the mortgage business, she has seen the annual pattern. “We are slower the first couple months of the year, obviously due to Mr. Winter. And in the springtime business picks up rapidly, peaks in the warm summer months and tends to taper off late in the year.”
Other factors come into play
Local real estate agents say other factors also come into play when it comes to how fast homes sell and for how much — whether it be spring or any other time of the year — such the selection of homes being offered for sale and the desirability of the community where the home is located.
“Cranberry or the North Hills is extremely hot compared to areas that are farther west like Beaver,” said Steve Carpenter, a real estate agent with the Northwood Realty office in Adams. “It may not matter what time of year a home goes on the market.”
For most real estate markets, it comes down to inventory. And right now, real estate professionals say there’s just not enough of it.
“Ideally a six months’ supply of homes for sale is a good balance for both buyers and sellers,” Mr. Croushore said. That means it would take six months to exhaust active listings at the current sales rate. In January, the inventory level stood at five months, indicating a lower-than-ideal supply versus demand level.
The West Penn Multi-List showed that the inventory in January 2015 was eight months.
“It’s a seller’s market. There’s not a lot of inventory,” said Margie Churchel, an agent with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Mt. Lebanon office. ”If houses are priced right, they are selling as soon as they go on the market.
“I’m working with buyers right now for a house in White Oak that went on the market Wednesday. I was going to show it to them Saturday, but it already has a contract on it.”
Tim Grant: tgrant@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1591.
First Published: March 21, 2016, 4:00 a.m.
