Dive Brief:
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As the price of gas continues to drop, the time it takes to sell a house could fall along with it, according to a study by Florida Atlantic University and Longwood University.
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But lower fuel prices tend to increase the selling price of homes, the study said. Using 10 years worth of data from central Virginia, researchers found that for every $1 per gallon that gas prices fall, the average time to sell a property decreases by 25 days and the selling price rises by 2.4%.
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More good news for the seller: A $1-per-gallon decrease tends to increase a seller’s chance of selling and closing by approximately 20%. The reason: Lower gas prices lead to increased consumer confidence and more disposable income among potential buyers, the researchers said.
Dive Insight:
"Based on these findings, the immediate future looks bright for home sellers," the researcher concluded.
Gas prices nationwide soared by an average of 42% in the spring, but started falling again in time for the Fourth of July weekend, the report noted. And prices are expected to drop over the summer to their lowest level since 2009.
Coinciding with that rise and fall was an unexpected boost in contracts on homes for sale—to a nine-year high in May, according to the National Association of Realtors.
"The general downward trend in gasoline prices is really working out well for sellers of property as we enter the heart of the selling season this summer," Bennie D. Waller, director of the Center for Financial Responsibility at Longwood University, said in a statement.
