What the latest numbers tell us about where the market might be headed.
If you’ve been following the news on the housing market, it might seem like one big rollercoaster. Part of why it twists and turns so much is that we’re trying to figure out where the market is heading. Each month we get more numbers that help us learn what’s happening. I want to share a bit of what’s behind the numbers today so you can better prepare your real estate plans.
The first statistic concerns supply. The number we use is months-of-supply, which measures how long it would take to sell out of homes if no new ones came on the market. We currently have 1.4 months’ supply of properties listed between $200,000 and $450,000. At higher price points, that supply goes up to 1.9 months, which is not that much more. There are simply not many homes out there right now, which is helping drive our market.
“Don’t wait for this market to soften because it won’t change a ton.”
The average days on market rose from 17 to 23 over July, which is significant. July is historically one of the busiest months for Florida real estate, so the fact we saw a dip in the numbers is interesting. We might know more as we move into September and October.
There are also a lot of moving parts right now. Interest rates went from 3% to 6%, and then fell back down to 4.5%. It’s hard to predict where we’re going, but I don’t think we should wait and see. Interest rates are decent, and prices have decreased by 1% to 2%. Don’t wait for this market to soften because I don’t believe it will change too much. Things might balance out a bit more, but buying a home probably won’t get any cheaper. Also, remember that these shifts affect various price points differently.
If you have any questions about these changes, feel free to call or email me. I would love to hear from you.
