Mid-Week Market Report- The Buyer Wave Is Here

Tue , February 21, 2023

Since more and more people are trying to buy homes as quickly as possible, the buyer wave has officially arrived on the real estate market this week. Thus, the “buy low, sell high” era has finally ended. Let’s examine the implications of these new buyer trends for the sector and how to prepare for a surge in inventory in Q1.

Running Seven-Day Average

As the name suggests, the seven-day moving average represents market movement over the previous week. It keeps us updated on recent events, is a great predictor of short-term trends, and detects changes in the surrounding environment well before annual reports that typically cover such topics. The weekly average as of February 8th is shown below.

New Listing — 617

Listing Sold — 665

Listing Pending — 1536

Back on The Market — 131

List Price Reduced — 400

Listing Expired — 115

List price Increased — 70

Contingent — 32

Listing Cancelled — 119

As you can see, there are 617 homes for sale on the market and 1536 pended homes which are around 2.5 times them. We have also got 665 homes sold. When we look at these numbers, we can see that for every home coming on the market, we have almost three homes going off the market. Thus, pulling down of inventory has been going since October as we continued to eat up inventory little by little every month.

Compared To The Previous Month

Look at this table to see how last week’s data compares to the previous months.

Average housing inventory levels have dropped by 16.8 percent.

Increase in active listings by 17.3%

Listings are selling at a 17.4% lower rate.
More homes were under contract, up 102.2%.

Compared to the previous month, January, which was a fantastic month in its own right, there was a massive increase in activity.

Compared To January 2022

It’s time to compare the real estate data from this week to the same period from the previous year, and the results look promising for this year!

As a result, 121.8 percent more homes are now than a year ago.

There has been a 32% decrease in the number of new listings.

The percentage of listings that were sold dropped by 26.2%.
We see a decline of 6.6% in the number of houses under contract.

The most notable difference is that pending rates are only 6.6% lower than last year, when mortgage rates were around 2-3%. Consider this your official notification that the time has come to buy or sell a luxury home in the WA real estate market.

Compared to Last Year

The following was found when we contrasted the February 2023 and February 2022 numbers:

As a result, 133.4 percent more homes are now than a year ago.

There has been an 18.8% decrease in the number of new listings.

The percentage of listings that were sold dropped by 33.1%.
We see a decline of 2% in the number of houses under contract.

Even though sales are down, we are only down 2% in pending homes compared to last year. However, the difference in mortgage rates is the most important thing you need to notice. Our mortgage rates were 3.69% last year but are now 6.09%. This demonstrates unequivocally that despite the difference, buyers are moving and arriving in large numbers. Getting multiple offers should be simple if you’re a seller and have your house on the market.

It is crucial to note that these statistics are subject to change as the year progresses, but if we continue on this path, we will see the sales activity continue and creep up, just as we predicted.

Why Are Buyers Buying Despite High-Interest Rates?

To put it simply, this is taking place as a result of Northwest MLS buyers moving as a result of falling mortgage rates. This was caused by the buyers’ pent-up resentment and waiting due to the high mortgage rates. These buyers can now finally purchase the home of their dreams.

The fact that buyers currently face less competition is another factor. The savvier buyers know that as the tide of buyers grows, the competition will inevitably become fierce, which no buyer wants.

As a result, if you’ve been waiting like a hunter looking for homes for sale in Kirland or Downtown, we advise you to move immediately because otherwise, the numerous hunters currently out hunting will take your prey!

Closing

As you can see, the trend of buying homes as quickly as possible is over. There are many reasons why buyers are buying homes as quickly as possible. One of the biggest reasons is that they want to make a quick cash move and make sure the market is stable. If you’re an active buyer, you should be aware of this trend and take advantage of it. The next step for real estate investors is to prepare for an influx of new listings and a surge in inventory.