Some may think that because a home is brand new that it is that much more desirable, causing it to sell faster than older inventory. But is that actually true?
I decided to put that reasoning to test by conducting my own study, using single family homes that have sold this year in our luxury core communities. In order to have a large enough sample size I considered homes “new construction” if they’ve been completed after 2018. This gave me 11 homes. I then chose 11 of the oldest homes to have sold in these same communities in order to create my very best “apples to apples” comparison.
What I found is that new construction does sell slightly faster than older inventory, but not by very much (98 to 105 median days on market). Perhaps equally as interesting, and a bit predictable, is that new construction sold 7.5% below asking, while older inventory sold 15% below asking.
Final analysis:
New construction does sell a bit faster and far closer to the asking price than older inventory. Nevertheless, buyers searching within these luxury communities tend to be very educated, savvy individuals. These buyers understand that new doesn’t always mean quality, and old doesn’t always mean dated. Due to current building costs, many of the more mature, custom homes simply couldn’t be rebuilt to the same standards of quality. Buyers that understand that place a higher value on these homes. In short, there’s a difference between craftsmanship and labor.
Are you looking for a new build or a classic piece of Tahoe architecture?
