tsutcli, normally I'd assume so, but the listings I have followed and am referring to are not (to my knowledge) actually closing at the much higher list prices, which is why supply and demand didn't seem to explain the choice of pricing. So I was looking for what is driving the decision to list things outside current comps (and much higher than them)... Curious if there is some mindset or state of affairs I'm missing that is acting as the rationale for higher prices - outside of just a speculative hope for a large profit.
An example: a new listing to the MLS within the last two days... a condo listed at 800K, previously sold to current owner 07-15-2013 for 436K.
Looking at similar units in the development, the only same size unit to close in the 800K list ballpark was a sale on 03-22-2005 for 875K.
The only closed sales in the 800K ballpark over the last year (in the same development) were actually twice the square footage of this condo (4000+ square feet instead of 2184).
Of course I know that just because it was listed for 800K doesn't mean it will sell for it (though I'm curious if/when such listings do sell, it could be a gauge when we are on shaky ground again given the 2005 comparable sale).
That is just one example of what I have noticed too often lately to be isolated. So then this week when I noticed pricing jumps like this on realtors' own personal property listings, it made my ears stand up a little more. I've never been in a market where properties would list so much higher than they were sold for within the last two years while at the same time being absent of actual sold/closed comps reflecting demand. I've seen random soaring ask prices on FSBO properties in the past, but not listings made through realtors who traditionally don't need/want a property to just sit with their name on it for months on end.
