The guard gated luxury real estate market is off to a strong start in 2021! You’ll find all of the numbers in the Market Trends section below, but first, let’s look at the bigger picture with the year-over-year trends. January 2021 closed sales were up 43%, pending sales were up 60.8%, and inventory was down 24.6% compared to January 2020. This high demand and low supply will continue to drive prices higher this year. If you look at the Absorption Rates broken down by price range, you’ll see that there is only a 3 to 4 month supply of inventory in most price ranges. This makes for a very competitive market.

For buyers, this means you need to have your financials fully prepared so you can be ready to make offers promptly on homes you like. If you wait too long, you could miss out while someone swoops in ahead of you—or end up in a bidding war. Even when it comes to new construction and the purchase of custom lots, having an experienced agent is critical. We just wrapped up a several-week-long process helping buyers purchase some fantastic strip view lots, and the developer’s contract had several issues that we helped address.

For sellers, now is a time to push the envelope when it comes to pricing. Just remember that properly preparing the house and putting an experienced professional to work still pays off and will ultimately net you more money.

Real estate has always been a hot topic and even more so lately. To help you understand some of the lingo, I figured I’d share a few common terms used in transactions…

“EMD” means buyer’s earnest money deposit. This money is deposited at the escrow/title company and is generally refundable while the buyer still has contingencies in play.

“Close of Escrow (COE)” is the time of recordation of the deed in the buyer’s name. Once a property has been recorded, the buyer will get their keys, and the seller will have their proceeds wired to them—unless they prefer a check.

“CIC” means Common Interest Community (formerly known as “HOA” or homeowner’s association). Sellers have to pay for CIC resale packages and demand statements when under contract.

If you’d like the support of a team of luxury real estate professionals who know the ins and outs of the market, give us a call today.