September 2023 Real Estate Wrap Up
Wow, it’s hard to believe we are kissing September and summer goodbye and are truly welcoming October and fall. Let’s take a look at what happened through the September numbers.
You can see those price increases of 2020-2022 mellowing out with less than 1% growth this month. Closings are down 20% month over month which is in relative line with a normal market slowdown this time of year. We have nearly 2.5 months of inventory, meaning buyers have nearly 2.5 homes to choose from on average. A balanced market is about 6 months of inventory, so we are still in a “seller’s market”. Sellers, don’t get greedy. You should be prepared to offer rate buy-downs and work through concessions, especially if you are holding firm on price.
New listings dropped by 6% month over month and we expect that to continue as we get into the holiday period. Lots of sellers remove their listings during winter and over the holidays and that will, in turn, decrease the inventory available for buyers in the market.
First-time homebuyers: if you can stomach the interest rates and higher payments, now is your time. You can avoid the bidding wars that will return when interest rates drop. Reach out at homes@coloradoallie.com and we will make a plan to get you in a home.
Above is a closer look at price increases over time. You can see some serious hikes during springtime and during the historically low interest rates. No one can predict the future, but my best guess is that interest rates are going anywhere in 2024. We will continue to see rates in the 7-8% range, even for the best-qualified buyers.
You can see above we have an increase in active listings and a decrease in closings. We are closer to 2019 numbers than 2008, though, so there’s no need to panic. The market is just… figuring some things out.
If you have any questions about this data or any other data, please reach out! I attend weekly market updates, receive monthly reports on data, and can pull on-demand data by zip code and even for your home.
