What a Difference a Couple Months Make!
No one really has any idea how this market is going to pan out this summer…still. As I look at all my resources to find material for this newsletter, they are all silent over the last few weeks. I read an article from a couple weeks ago that says that 168,000 households are now priced out of the market because of the increase of interest rates. Another mentions that inventory increased by 8.9% in one month. Inflation is still rising, gas prices are still high, and we are having another Covid surge. None of these are typically good for the housing market, most would think and agree.
But people are still moving! And they will continue to! I have 3 new listings this month and my buyers that I am working with are seeing many more options out there. It is peak season, so that is all typical. There are still people who want to and can afford to buy. July and August is typically when we see the highest inventory each year, so the increase in inventory is not alarming. Yet, we are seeing a reduction in lockbox openings, and that means that houses are going to take a little longer to sell, which is different from what we experienced the last couple of years. We are also seeing much less multiple offer situations and many houses are being sold for list price or below witch is pretty normal actually. But we are not seeing desperation and huge price reductions, so there is that! So maybe we are just getting back to a normal balanced market and that would be a very welcome change and something we haven’t seen for quite a while!
Always happy to have a one on one conversation with more detail with anyone!