| This market is, well, interesting. Any time you have uncertainty in the greater community, you have interesting markets–be them real estate markets, stock markets, futures, etc. Remember that a “market” is just a larger group’s psychology when it comes to money and value of the item in the market. Interestingly, we talk about the “US housing market” and the reality is, that concept is just a huge aggregate of many, many smaller submarkets. In other words, what happens in Pittsburgh, and especially the degree to which it happens, is largely unrelated and unaffected by what happens in Murfreesboro. That said, the trends are often the same. I say all that to say that even what happens in Nashville may not be the same as what happens in Murfreesboro. “Markets can get down to the granular level. Even within Murfreesboro, the overall picture of a $300k house is NOT the same as a $900k house (still weird to think there are enough $900k houses to have a “market” in Murfreesboro). So when someone throws stats out, make sure you understand what the stats represent AND understand that your situation, though it may follow the same overall trend, is truly unique. Your best bet is always to engage a competent, local, plugged in, active, insightful, professional REALTOR (like me!). Now that we got that all out of the way, here are some numbers: We see that new listings and new under contracts were down this April compared to April 2024 (which were down compared to the previous year, which was down compared to the previous year). We also see that active inventory is way up. This is because inventory is sticking around. Look at the increase of days on market and, even more telling, the rise in months of supply. Interestingly, historically 7 months of supply is considered an even market while less than 7 is a seller’s market and above 7 is a buyer’s market. I will tell you, we have shifted into a market where the buyer has WAY more power than they did a few years ago. I would go ahead and call it a buyer’s market. Closing costs, price reductions, repairs, loan types, home sale contingencies–all back in the market strongly. Those are signs of a buyer’s market. Also, not pictured in this graph is the price ratio. On average, homes are being sold at 98.82% of their list price. Remember this is the list price when it goes under contract. When you take into account the original list price, this average drops to 97.75%. So, while on the subject of pricing–take a look. Average sales price is down 4% from April 2024. Median price is flat. Average list price is down 1%. Prices are finally dropping ever so slightly. This is not uniform. At some price points, in some specific submarkets, you might see an increase slightly and in some submarkets, the drop may be more pronounced. Either way, we are seeing some (very little) relief on price. This is a function of sustained higher rates and of sellers that HAVE to sell being the majority of situations in the resale market. It has been propped up for a while by new construction but even they are seeing some of this. This is great news for buyers. It is not as bad as it sounds for sellers–IF they bought more than 3 years ago. If you bought more recently and have to sell, you make break even or even take a small loss. Again, if you have a situation where you need to or want to make a move, call me. Let’s go through your specific scenario. It may be that timing is important. It may be that you should just rock on ahead. It may be that you need to sit and delay your plans for a bit. Either way, I will always shoot you straight and give you the info you need to make your best decision. I am an advisor first. |
