Are We Having The Spring Season Anyone Expected?

The listing season is upon us.  Spring is supposed to give buyers new inventory to look at, and ultimately buy.  How is that playing out?  Just as we were about to see our busiest listings season hit, we saw a few bumps in the road:

• Banking Collapses
  

  Data From February is encouraging- for both buyers and sellers.

• Fed Rate Increases
• Plenty of International Tumult

I went to our data partner, UrbanDigs, to take a look at if there’s been an impact on the market.

Let’s look at February (Pre-Spring)

Our internal inventory report showed increased inventory, and lower demand.  Take a look at the chart to see what was going on for resale properties:

• Demand had been slightly down
• Contract Activity had slowed
• Buyers were getting more discounts

If you look at 2023 compared to prior years, clearly 2021 and 2022  were much stronger.  It looked like we were back to 2018-2019 in terms of negotiability.

Now, let’s look at March 2023:

For the last month or so, what we’re seeing is enc0uraging:

• Supply is up – appropriate for the Spring
• Demand is up – again, typical
• Deal Volume is up – not nearly 2021 or 2022, again, but notable.
• Contracts Signed is up, too – it’s down comparatively, but 1098 contracts signed is healthy.

We only have another few weeks of our typical Spring season.  Will the trend continue?  Will there be enough inventory to satisfy buyer demand?

We didn’t have much of a winter. It’s not clear if we’re going to have much of a spring, either.

Yet we are putting deals together, and hearing and seeing other agents do the same.  It’s just that buyers and sellers are taking their time.

People say that the sign of a good negotiation is that everyone is a little annoyed.  This spring, I think both sides will be happy.  Sellers will be happy to move on.  And buyers can see that they’re getting good value.

Go and get educated now if you are thinking about getting in the market.  The deals are there.  The market is more liquid than it’s been in a few months.  And that should give you confidence- much more than reading the news.