Here’s a simple explanation of why we’re seeing these market changes.
A lot of people have asked, in a lot of ways, what we should expect this fall. I’m going to try to answer this without getting too deep into the weeds so I don’t put you to sleep.
You’re not crazy; the market is changing. It seems to be softening, and the data shows a lot of different reasons for that. This is honestly a month-to-month situation, and every home sale and situation will be different. Here are four things to keep in mind about our changing market:
1. Inflation is going up. You can feel it at the gas pump and the grocery store, but everyone knows that housing taxes are going to go up too.
“When people don’t have a grasp of the data, emotion starts to set in.”
2. We have a lot of loans in forbearance. You’d think this would be an issue, but the data shows that most people are either getting caught up or making loan modifications. On top of that, Black Knight, a data company, reports that 87% of homeowners in forbearance have at least 10% equity which means they can sell and avoid foreclosure. Still, 200,000 or 300,000 homes could go into foreclosure, but that’s low compared to the 9.3 million that we saw between 2006 and 2014.
3. Sales on the west side are at 4,605 through July. That is up from both 2020 and 2019, where they were at 4,288 and 4,550 respectively.
4. This situation could be seasonal. People weren’t able to go on vacation last year, so there might be more vacations than normal because of that. Only time will tell if this is true or not.
When people don’t have a grasp of the data, emotion starts to set in. Don’t let other people’s emotions affect your decisions. Like I said at the start, everyone’s situation will be unique, so if you want to go over your specific circumstances, just give me a call. I’d be more than happy to help.
