The start of the New Year tends to bring change and excitement. Our local real estate market is bucking that tradition this year. Instead, we are looking back. The price gains we saw in early 2022 have now evaporated and we are back to 2021 pricing. Not necessarily a bad thing given that many homeowners had been priced out of the market at this same time last year.
Our sales volume is down over 40% year-over-year, but our inventory level is also down. Both numbers being low are keeping us in a somewhat balanced market with a slight edge to buyers right now.
As has been the case for the last several months, interest rates are the name of the game. Over the last few months, every time we saw even a short period of time where rates stabilized, home sales picked back up. If rates stay somewhat stable, my guess is we will start to see the market pick back up and level off. Problem is, they aren’t making decisions based off of one state’s numbers in one industry; they look at the country as a whole.
For now, we wait and see what the rates have in store for us as we begin the New Year.
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