Market update for the week ending December 1 2018
CRUDE OIL 50.72 — GOLD 1.222.10 — SILVER 14.14 — EUR/USD 1.13
Stock markets posted the largest weekly gain in 2018 – Stocks ended November by soaring about 5% this week. It marked a dramatic rebound after stocks fell sharply into negative territory for the year over the last two weeks. Strong consumer spending data for Black Friday and Cyber Monday got the week started. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell's comments on Wednesday that interest rate hikes would likely end in 2019 led to one of the best single daily gains ever for stocks. It also resulted in bond yields falling. The U.S. 10 year Treasury yield fall to the lowest level in more than 10 weeks. Friday’s signing of a replacement to NAFTA by President Trump, Canada, and Mexico also lifted markets to finish the week with the highest weekly gain this year. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed the week at 25,538.46, up sharply from 24,285.95 last week. It was up 5.2% this week and is up 3.3% year to date. The S&P 500 closed the week at 2,760.17, up from 2,632.56 last week. It was up 4.8% for the week and is up 3.2% year to date. The NASDAQ closed the week at 7,330.54, up from 6,938.96 last week. It was up 5.6% for the week and up 6.2% year to date.
Treasury Bond Yields slightly lower this week – The 10 year treasury bond closed the week yielding 3.01%, down slightly from 3.05% last week. The 30 year Treasury bond yield ended the week at 3.30%, unchanged from 3.31% last week. We watch Treasury bond yields because mortgage rates follow bond yields.
Mortgage rates unchanged this week – The November 28, 2018 Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Survey reported that the 30 year fixed mortgage rate average was 4.81%, unchanged from 4.81% last week. The 15 year fixed was 4.25% unchanged from 4.24% last week. The 5 year ARM was 4.12%, up slightly from 4.09% last week.
Your listing is turning buyers off! Here's why – The best way to get potential buyers through the door and interested in your home is with a stellar online listing. Photos of the house and a description of the property are standard fare, but not all listings do what they're supposed to do. In fact, some might actually do more harm than good. In many ways, trying to sell your home is like applying for a job, and your online listing is the resume or cover letter. If it’s not polished, you’ll never even get to the next phase. So, what are the parts of a listing that can turn buyers off? Below are some of the worst offenses.
- Lackluster or non-existent description – It can be hard to sum up your home in a couple of paragraphs. However, if you want to attract buyers, you’ll need to paint an inviting picture of the property. If it is a beachfront home, highlight the best parts of living on the ocean. If it is an urban town, mention that you are within walking distance of top-rated restaurants. Also keep in mind that the online listing might initially show just a couple of lines of text. I always make sure the most eye-catching information appears first.
- Too much or the wrong type of information – Colorful listing photos or descriptions are sure to entice, but you have to be objective. Your favorite aspects of the home might not have the same effect on buyers.
- Amateur photographs – Your smartphone takes some really good photos, but that doesn’t mean they’re good enough to be used in your online listing. Everyone thinks they can take quality pictures with their smartphones and save a few dollars, but you only get one chance to impress potential buyers online. That's why it's important to feature high-quality photographs shot by someone who has experience taking photos for online listings. A professional photographer will have the correct camera lenses, lighting, and angles to allow the entire room to be seen in a single photo. I can't tell you how many times I've seen the infamous ‘real estate agent in a mirror' shot! When the photo quality is lacking, it sends a message that your home is low quality, too.
- Not staging your home – While many buyers like to think of a new house as a blank canvas for their own furniture and design tastes, leaving the rooms completely devoid of furniture and art in the listing photos can hurt in the long run. Buyers like to see the potential of the home, so staging is highly recommended. When a house is staged, you can get the sense of use and purpose for each space. That's especially important for houses with open floor plans. Open floor plans are extremely popular to home buyers in today’s market, but sometimes it’s hard to differentiate a space with no furniture.
- Too many days on the market – Buyers look closely at the listing price and days on the market (DOM) because this information can help them determine whether the house is priced too low or too high, and how much they should offer if they're interested. Because every real estate market is different, there isn't a hard and fast number of days it takes for a listing to be considered stale. However, most real estate agents agree that it takes about 30 days on the market for a listing to lose its luster. So how can you revive a stale listing? Additional marketing efforts like new photos or an added incentive may help. But the most effective way to generate more buzz about your property is with a price adjustment. The best tactic, ultimately, is to price the house correctly the first time, so it doesn't end up languishing on the market for a couple of weeks. An overpriced home will force a seller to drop the price of their home numerous times to reach the ‘sweet spot’ where buyers become interested in the listing.
Quote of the week
Those who lack the courage
will always find a philosophy to justify it.
Albert Camus
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