These days, it’s not unheard of for people to walk up to the homes of total strangers and knock on the doors, offering to pay an absurd amount in cash right there to buy their home. It’s a symptom of the extreme seller’s market we’re in: inventory is so low that even when there are people who are up for purchasing a house, there aren’t homes to be had.

So what will it take to get homeowners to start selling in quantity? When top real estate agents are surveyed, they see a few ways that the housing market could loosen up a little through more sellers entering the market. 

Fear of Missing Out: If The Sellers Market is Leveling Out, Will You Sell?

A few different factors could cool the sellers market and are likely to do so, at least at some point: the biggest is rising interest rates, which could discourage some of the opportunistic buying that was driven by the extremely inexpensive loans available. Even small signs, like interest rates hitting 4%, are enough that top real estate agents think that a variety of sellers will worry that waiting any longer could lose them a lot of money.

This kind of trend is a bit of a runaway self-fulfilling prophecy: if lots of sellers sense that this is their last chance to get the great returns that so many sellers are seeing, they could enter the market en masse. This inventory boost would then result in the prices levelling off, since buyers would have more options to choose from. So even a small sign that a buyers market is on its way could be enough to ensure that a buyers market returns. 

Special Populations: If You Don’t Need to Buy Again Right Away, Will You Sell?

There are also a variety of individuals who can benefit from selling their homes now without being unduly worried about finding the next home that they will live in. For instance, downsizers stand to benefit: selling large homes can be a challenge in a buyers market, with luxury features not fetching their full potential in resale, but during a sellers market, they can fetch a pretty penny. If you’re trying to buy a smaller home with the spoils of a great large-home sale, you may pay a premium and still come out ahead. This is a reason that many agents believe empty nesters, near retirees, and those who have already put in for retirement are likely to sell during the summer and fall. 

Another group of somewhat surprising sellers have been new homeowners who have owned their homes for less than 5 years. These sellers see the kinds of returns that starter homes are getting in so many markets and become excited about the possibility of pocketing a large chunk of cash upon selling, going back to renting until buying becomes a possibility for them again. With renting not so far in their past, it’s not as strange a notion as a long-time homeowner might feel it would be.