Why Are We Seeing Such a Big Shift in the Market?

The world is changing quickly, and we can see how much it is affecting the market. But why are we seeing such a large shift in the market?

There has been a recent increase in the number of homes for sale. Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American says, “There has been a pickup in the inventory that we’ve seen recently, but it’s not from a big increase in new listings… but rather from a slowdown in the pace of sales. And remember that a months’ supply measures the inventory of sale relative to the pace of sales. Same inventory, fewer sales, means more months’ supply.” So, even if the same number of homes are going up for sale, it is taking longer to get them sold.

In January of this year, the national inventory was only 1.6 months, and latest data has us up to 2.6 months of inventory. While this isn’t a huge difference, it is enough to make an impact on the market. If we look at the inventory from last year, we see that there are more homes going on the market now than there was last year. Buyers have more and more options now and it has resulted in more competition amongst sellers to try and get their homes sold. Sellers are reducing prices and being more realistic in order to compete with the increase of inventory, which means buyers have more power and options than they have had in quite a few years. So, with more listings and options available for buyers, now is the time to reach out to my team about getting into your dream home.