What to say about October? I’m starting to feel like a broken record with the “this market is weird” language. But, it’s still (and will likely continue to be) weird.
In the Metro Richmond area, we averaged 1.5 months of inventory for the month of October. As you may be aware, a “balanced” market is 6 months of inventory. That means that if no more homes came on the market, it would take 6 months to sell all the homes on the market based on the buyer flow. That means, we’re still in a seller’s market, despite the increase in rates, or anything else. Fun fact, though? I can go back 10 years in the data through our MLS (multiple listing service) and can’t find a time that was ever higher than 4.6 months, and that was way back in July of 2014.
It’s still tough out there for buyers, given the shortage of inventory caused by the lack of housing units built in the last 15 years, entire new buyer pools/demographics dropping into the market, and the increase in interest rates after nearly everyone (72% nationwide, actually, according to Goldman Sachs) refinanced or bought at sub 4% rates. Those people likely aren’t making a change or selling if they don’t really need to. Add to that that rates are up as much as they are, and it really is not a great feeling for most people looking to buy.
If you’re selling, it is still a great time, but anecdotally, we’re definitely seeing more buyers being REALLY particular about what they’re looking for and looking at. They’re not jumping on every house, but being more discerning about what they buy, so doing those extra projects makes all the difference in most cases.
I don’t anticipate a whole lot changing for the rest of 2023, with the exception of the normal dips for holidays, in either the market itself or the interest rates. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad time to buy. If you’re going to be in a home for at least 2 years, you are likely going to be just fine with appreciation catching up to what you pay, and you’ll most likely to be able to refinance at a lower rate at some point as well. One thing you can refinance? The actual price of the home, and that, right now, is most likely at one of the lower points that it will be. Particularly if the interest rates go down much lower at some point, pushing more buyers into the market.
That means if you’re ready to buy, make it happen!
If you’re ready to sell, give me a call so we can discuss what will make it sell faster and for more money. It really does make a difference, especially right now.