real estate statistics -

In 2015, a home sold on ForSaleByOwner.com every 48 minutes.

Nationally, home sellers saved an average of $14,307 in agent commissions by using ForSaleByOwner.

Additionally, sales on ForSaleByOwner achieved a median time on market as low as 30 days during the height of the home selling season – 12 days faster than homes sold using a real estate agent during the same period.

While sellers saw success across the United States, 10 states rose to the top for by-owner home sales as a result of hot metropolitan markets, strong economies and increased migration among other factors.

Let’s take a look at what made these ten states so successful for home sellers doing it on their own.

1. Texas
Dallas-Forth Worth, Houston and San Antonio were just a few of the hot markets that propelled Texas to the top of our list. All three metropolitan areas saw a median time on market of 30 days for all of 2015.

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2. Florida
Between 2014 and 2015 Florida saw roughly 200,000 people migrate from other states, which likely contributed to strong demand for real estate across the state. Miami-Fort Lauderdale achieved a median time on market of just 27.5 days with the median home sale value increasing 15 percent year-over-year to $374,000.

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3. Louisiana
Low inventory in markets across the state helped to contribute to increased median sales prices in markets like Lafayette and New Orleans, which were up 2.4 percent and 4.5 percent respectively to $205,000 and $225,0000 from the previous year.

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4. Illinois
A large part of Illinois’s success in 2015 was due to the sizzling housing market in Chicago, which saw home sales up about 8.1 percent. The median time on market for homes sold on ForSaleByOwner in Chicago decreased by 33 percent year-over-year.

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5. Michigan
Real estate in Southeast Michigan saw a drastic recovery in 2015, with housing prices back to prerecession levels across the area. On ForSaleByOwner, median sales price increased 4 percent from the previous year to $240,875 and median time on market in 2015 dropped to 30 days down from 61 for the entirety of 2014.

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6. New York
Record sales prices were seen in New York City during 2015 and that was certainly no exception on ForSaleByOwner. The median sales price jumped by 8 percent year-over-year during the height of the home selling season.

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7. Ohio
Increased sales in areas like Cincinnati led to lowered inventory and increased sales prices. In Cincinnati, sales on ForSaleByOwner increased by 30 percent over the previous year and in Cleveland median sales price increased by nearly 8 percent during the hottest months of the home selling season.

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8. North Carolina
Although foreclosure rates began to increase slightly in certain areas of the state, the overall market remained healthy with the number of homes sold on ForSaleByOwner in 2015 increasing 5.5 percent over the previous year for Raleigh and other areas.

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9. Georgia
Atlanta was a particularly hot market for sellers on ForSaleByOwner. Home sales in the defined metropolitan area increased almost 15 percent from the previous year.

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10. Wisconsin
Sellers across the state of Wisconsin experienced success in their sales, but Milwaukee saw the most pronounced growth year-over year with sales increasing 8.2 percent and median sales price growing 11.4 percent.

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As the peak home selling season drew to a close in August, indicators such as price increases, time on market and decreased distressed home sales point toward a “good” housing market. As seen in a recent ForSaleByOwner.com survey, these factors also indicate an increased willingness to sell by owner.

August 2014 Existing Home Sales
According to an August
report, after four months of consecutive increases, existing home sales fell slightly for the month, down 1.8 percent from July. Despite the dip, August still saw 2014’s second highest seasonally adjusted annual rate with 5.05 million existing home sales, just behind July with 5.14 million.

The decrease in sales was due primarily to a decrease in purchasing from cash investors, who also helped to raise prices throughout the year as regular buyers attempted to compete with their cash offers to sellers. As good news to potential homeowners, this decrease will allow them an increased opportunity to purchase.

As a share of the total number of existing home sales, August saw the lowest levels of foreclosures and short sales since the market crash in 2008. Distressed sales reached single-digit numbers for the first time since October 2008 in July and August continued the decline with numbers reaching 8 percent.

Time on market was up slightly from July’s numbers with a median of 53 days compared to 48 days, a number that is still down
roughly 26 percent from December 2013 when the number of days on market was up to 72. In August, roughly 40 percent of homes were on the market for less than a month.

Inventory levels remain at a healthy, competitive number. August saw 2.31 million existing homes available on the market, which at the current sales pace equals roughly a 5.5-month supply.

1 out of every 2 sellers are more willing to sell by owner in a good housing market
With August data consistent with what analysts could determine is a “good” housing market, we asked ForSaleByOwner.com customers to describe their willingness to sell by owner. Of eight hundred respondents, the majority (55 percent) said that a good housing market would make them more likely to consider selling by owner. Additionally, 37 percent of sellers stated that a good housing market would have no impact on their willingness to continue selling by owner while only 9 percent said that they would be less willing.

In addition to measuring the impact that the quality of the market would have on those selling by owner, the survey also asked sellers to provide further insight into how and why the market would impact their willingness.

Sellers stated that saving on commission fees and receiving increased exposure were driving forces in choosing to sell by owner. One respondent surveyed explained that by selling by owner, “I am doing most of the work as is and would not want to give that commission away. I also have more control over the process, which is a huge benefit.”

Justin Cyr successfully sold by owner in August with ForSaleByOwner.com sharing that, “I went into the process not knowing a great deal about the selling process, but with the site and all of the tips, I felt confident going forward. With the money saved by using ForSaleByOwner, I plan to increase the down payment on my new house!

To find out how you can sell by owner during a good housing market and save on commission fees while maximizing your exposure, visit ForSaleByOwner.com.