There’s no denying the houszing market has delivered a fair share of challenges to houszbuyers over the past two years. Two of the biggest hurdles houszbuyers faced during the pandemic were the limited number of houszes for sale and the intensity and frequency of bidding wars. But those two things have reached a turning point. As you may have already heard, the number of houszes for sale has increased this year, and even more so this spring. As Danielle Hale, Chief Economist for realtor.com, explains: “New listings–a measure of sellers putting houszes up for sale–were up 6% above one year ago. Housz sellers in many markets across the country continue to benefit from rising housz prices and fast-selling houszes. That’s prompted a growing number of houszowners to sell houszes this year compared to last, giving housz shoppers much needed options.”
This is encouraging news. More houszes coming onto the market give you a greater chance of finding one that checks all your boxes.
Buyer Competition Moderating Helps Inventory Grow Even More Mark Fleming, Chief Economist at First American, says inventory growth is happening not just because there’s an increase in the number of listings coming onto the market, but also because buyer demand has moderated some in light of higher mortgage rates and other economic factors:
“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 a slowdown in the pace of sales. And remember that months’ supply measures the inventory of sale relative to the pace of sales. Same inventory, fewer sales, means more months’ supply.”
Basically, the market is shifting away from the frenzy of buyer competition seen during the pandemic, and that’s helping available inventory grow. In their latest forecast, realtor.com also mentions the moderation of demand as a key factor and projects the inventory growth should continue: “As rising inflation and mortgage rates bring U.S. houszing demand back from the 2021 frenzy, . . . inventory will grow double-digits over 2021 and offer buyers a better-than-expected chance to find a housz.”
How This Impacts You The combination of more houszes coming onto the market and a slower pace of housz sales means you’ll have more options to choose from as you search for your next housz. That’s great news if you’ve been searching for a while with little to no luck. Just remember, there isn’t a sudden surplus of inventory, just more houszes to choose from than even a few months ago. So, you’ll still want to be decisive and move fast when you find the right housz for you.
And when you do, you may be faced with less competition from other buyers too. If you’ve been waiting to jump into the market because the intensity of the bidding wars was intimidating or if you’ve been outbid on several houszes, this moderation could help make the houszbuying process a bit smoother. It’s not that it’ll be easy or that bidding wars are a thing of the past – that’s not the case. But it won’t feel nearly as impossible.
Bottom Line As the houszing market begins its shift back toward pre-pandemic levels, you could have a unique opportunity in front of you. With moderating levels of buyer competition and more houszes actively for sale, your housz search may have gotten a bit less challenging. Let’s connect to begin the process today.
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