RE in KC- Aug '22
A snapshot update on market trends, buyers and sellers considerations, and agent strategies in a shifting market.
If you've read local or national headlines as of late, you'd think the world of Real Estate is falling apart at a similar rate of the stock market. And, to be honest, I get it... the headlines do what they do best... they get you to "click and believe" with very careful word usage and agendas.
However, there are always the insider truths to what the actual professionals in the business see on a full-time basis, every day. My goal is to shed some light on that for the late summer/early fall market as of now.
Of course, we all know how insane the past 18-24 months have been regarding house pricing. Normally that would've scared buyers away. However, many records were set in regards to homes sold and homes purchased. This was influenced largely by record low interest rates, allowing home buyers to still afford higher pirces while mainting ideal mortgage rates for their budgets.
As of today (Aug/22)... THIS. HAS. CHANGED! Interest rates have jumped from the mid/high 2's into mid/high 5's! This has been rough on budget based buyers and they've adjusted their search pricing. Accordingly, sellers have had to adjust their pricing and listing expectations. In many cases, the "overpricing" has been largely adjusted on the sellers side and buyers feel like prices may be "coming down." We are seeing many price improvements/adjustements as many agents either made high priced promises to their sellers or are still operating with May '22 listing strategies (erronesously, of course)
These rapid changes that have been happening in this July/August market, happened to be coupled with the increasing threat and reality of inflation/recession within our economy. Suprisingly however, we have not seen a the "devestating fallout" that the media would lead you to believe. We saw a 2-3 week lull as the shift happened and buyers/sellers adjusted expectations, but we have since seen a stellar market improvement in buyer/seller activity.
While 5% interest rates are certainly not as ideal as 2.5%, it seems as though buyers can still make sense of buying while slightly adjusting their target price range and maintain their estimated mortgage budget. Thus, sellers have lost a little bit of leverage while still expecting asserstive offers and terms. It seems/feels like the market has become more "traditional" as of late where buying and selling parties negotiate price and repairs via inspection, which really does feel like both parties can enjoy a win-win real estate experience (with GOOD agents involved, anyway).
Moving forward we can expect to see some fluctuation in interest rates and inventory..., but it feels like we may sit in this groove for the next 6-9 months barring major economic changes with elections just around the corner. We shall see.
Currently, my buyers are winning and my sellers are winning... which feels really good to get fair housing practices and reasonable market expectations for BOTH sides. I'm looking forward to more "fairness" within the market place moving forward... fingers crossed for all.
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