WESTLAKE, Ohio — The real estate market in Northeast Ohio has been hot for months.
“There is more demand than there is supply right now,” said Greg Erlanger, co-team leader EZ Sales Team Keller Williams Citywide.
Erlanger said the vast majority of houses sell for more than the asking price and more people are paying cash.
“We’ve never seen this much cash in the market,” said Erlanger.
Theresa Brannen and her husband started Renovate CLE, they’ve flipped more than 16 houses in a little more than three years. But, even with offering more than the asking price and paying cash, the competition is fierce.
“It used to be really easy to pick up distressed houses because they were sitting on the market for a long time not a lot of competition. But now we haven’t been able to find one in the past three to four months,” said Brannen.
With inflation at its highest level in 40 years coupled with the threat of higher interest rates, some nervous Americans are on the house hunt.
“Inflation, the war, the pandemic, the uncertainty of everything putting it in real estate is where a lot of people feel most safe at the moment,” said Erlanger.
That is making it difficult for first-time home buyers who are financing to find a place to call home.
Hailey Vanyo lost out on a house not once but twice.
"I was getting financing; I had put an offer in for a home $20,000 above the asking price. I did get beat out by somebody that was a cash offer,” said Vanyo.
Until more homes are for sale or demand decreases, experts believe the fight for the piece of the American dream is expected to continue.
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