Hot Real Estate Summer

I never remember any summer being so crowded as this 2007 Season. All these people want to be here and they are looking for longer rentals and homes to buy. At the beginning of the season or rather late spring we were busy with high end buyers only – the $10 million and up crowd. Now however, it is all price ranges. Homes that sat in the $5million range are now in contract. Properties in the $1million to $3million range that were mostly north of the highway were stuck but no longer. Everything is selling and selling at close to asking price. There have even been several bidding wars and three and four back up offers on a property. So what does this mean? I know this is not happening throughout the US but in New York City and here in the Hamptons the market is strong.
Someone wanting a home may read this and say “it is too late for me, how can I buy now?” I have been in this business about 12 years now and I have never seen a bad time to buy. I have never seen the market really go down. It is supply and demand and the demand is here but the supply is limited. It is always a good time to buy.
I do think the fall of the year is the best time to buy since there will be many new properties coming on the market. This happens each fall, summer rentals empty, home owners that used their homes say now is the time. So i do think that fall gives the best choice for the buyers. However, pricing is always an issue and sometimes a better buy is a home that has been on the market than to wait until new homes come on with new expectations in pricing. When I was in the antiques business there used to be a saying “the time to buy an antique is when you see it” I think the same applies to real estate. When you see what you want that is the time to bid.