It’s been an interesting week.

I wrote an offer on a house in Frankfort that was listed at $159,500.   Looked at the comps.  Thought it was about a $147-152k house.  Seller wouldn’t budge from $156,950.  It’s been on the market for two weeks now, which is a life time in today’s market.  Even at $152k, it will be the most expensive house to ever sell in it’s neighborhood.

I showed a house last night that is listed for $187k.  The exact same model house sold 6 months ago on that same street for $180k.  Sure, lets add 2% or so for appreciation and subtract a bit because that house that already sold had granite and was nicer.  Oh, the house I showed had a 22 year old roof.  The shingles were the 3 tab kind, which usually are good for about 15-20 years.  It needs a new roof like now.  So, this one is overpriced and needs a $7k roof.  That’s a hard pill to swallow for the first time buyers in this price range, which is why it is still on the market.  BTW, in Lexington, a house in this price range would normally get multiple offers, possibly over the list price if the list price were anywhere near realistic.

I showed another house that was super nice, super pricey and only had 2 bedrooms.  I think the listing agent expected lots of offers since most houses under $200k in Lexington go fast.  The agent even put a deadline for submitting offers.  About 20 minutes after that deadline, that statement was removed.  The house is still for sale, so I guess no offers came.

So, we have 3 listings that aren’t selling in the hottest price range in the hottest market ever.

Why?

Price.  Even in a great market, you can only get market value for your house.  Market value is what a ready, willing and able buyer will pay for a house.  You can’t get over market value, which is exactly what these 3 sellers are wanting to do.

I am sure all 3 of these sellers are thinking “But I thought this was a seller’s market??”  It is, but when your price is above market value, most buyers opt to just wait for the next batch of new listings.  Dear sellers of these 3 houses, you are not drunk with power, you are just drunk.