By Mike Bodeen · 23 September 2019
Well, there’s finally some good news to report for buyers, with the caveat that we’ve reported similar stories these past few years, and then the market turns towards sellers again. So wisely, we’re keeping the crystal ball on the shelf for now, as stats for one month, doth not a trend make. And if you compare current numbers with one year ago, you will see that we’re still firmly imbedded in a seller’s market. So don’t get too excited buyers.
Active listings, pending contracts, and supply sides have moderated this past month. Here’s the scoop showing buyer favor since last month:
Some might read this and think, “Mike, what’s the big deal here? This is not a major change towards a buyer’s market!” And this is true, except we’ve been piling on buyers not getting on the buyer bandwagon for so long, that we want our buyer clients to know we can notice changes here and there that are in their favor. And besides, we believe that any encouragement that helps buyers make the buying move is positive.
This past month, active listings, and the months of supply has risen. Demand has decreased. And sales price per square foot has decreased, yes, less than 1%, but a change, nonetheless. The rise in prices psf over the year was 4%.
Not good news for buyers is the recent rise in mortgage rates, though very low still, did rise when Iran (purportedly) torched oil fields in Saudi Arabia. When crude oil spikes, as it did in the past two weeks, long term rates such as mortgage rates also tend to rise believing that inflation will increase. Nothing new there. Witness the oil shortage Jimmy Carter years with mortgage rates which hit 18%.
So, inventory has increased, mortgage rates look stabilized at this hour, and maybe it’s time to reconsider your buying timing. Just a thought.