Is the Market Slowing Down?

Here's a recap of what's happened in the last 6 months:

In March, record demand for homes drove inventory to historic lows, causing property values to increase. For many buyers, the combination of high demand and low inventory led them to hold off on their home searches. Competing buyers and rising prices for sellers has motivated others to put their homes on the market for the past several months. So now in today’s market, inventory has risen enough to be noticed, and we’re seeing buyers that had previously given up finding a home, now revisiting their searches. This time of year consistently sees a slowdown in buyer activity and a slowdown in inventory growth, so coupled with the above, it makes sense why the market is slowing down.

Is it no longer a good time to sell?

If you’ve considered selling, now is still a great time to get top dollar for your home. As mentioned above, demand remains strong, and historically speaking, overall inventory numbers remain low.

Looking at the overall US housing market, home values have increased beyond historical growth averages, and the past suggests that a correction in the market will eventually come. When will that correction come? Unfortunately, we don’t have a crystal ball — just history to show us that this breakthrough is one we should pay attention to.

Is it a good time to buy?

There are a couple of things working in buyers’ favor right now. First, interest rates remain very low. This provides buyers with increased spending power, helping to offset the price increases we’ve seen in the past year. Again, we can’t read the future, but are hearing predictions that interest rates will go up in the next year. Remember that for every 1% of interest rate increase, your spending power decreases by around 10%.

Second, inventory is up, which provides buyers with more choice than they had 6 months ago. That being said, demand remains steadily high, which means you should still expect competition and take a decisive approach when considering a purchase.

If you have any questions about what the market is doing, or what helpful next steps may be in your buying or selling journey, please don't hesitate to reach out!