As we’ve been pointing out, the housing market is shifting and the data I’m seeing continues to provide proof. Realtor.com reported that the time homes for sale are on the market increased 5 days more than last year at the same time, however, homes are still selling 22 days faster than they did pre-pandemic.
Home prices continued to grow as of the August annual numbers, however, the pace of price increases has slowed for the third month in a row.
What does this mean for you? As a buyer, you’re seeing more time to make buying decisions and likely more active listings to choose from as inventory levels climbed 26.6 percent over last year.
And yes, mortgage rates factor into our buying decisions and affordability and even though they continued to tick higher last week, according to Freddie Mac’s weekly survey, they are historically quite favorable. As a result of higher rates, we’ve seen the financing world responding with alternate loan programs to help with affordability.
There are always options we can look at besides the conventional mortgage route. Let’s talk about what would make sense for you and create your best scenario. Reaching out to talk over your personal scenario is the best first step and you can always simply reply to this email or text or call me at 818.307.6072.
As for what else I’m watching this week…
Of course, we’re in the midst of a holiday-shortened week and there’s very little economic data due out. What we have lots of are Fed Members speaking about the economy, which can often kick up market volatility, especially if they’re talking about inflation. Analysts will be pouring over the comments to help predict their next move as the next Fed Meeting looms on September 20th.
Last Friday’s Jobs Report revealed that job fewer new jobs were created in August than in the month prior, however, the job creation number did beat expectations.
Interestingly, the unemployment rate increased slightly to 3.7 percent. However, it looks like the reason could be good news in that the workforce participation rate rose and there are more workers entering the job market looking for opportunities. The workforce participation rate did increase by 0.3 percent, however, still sits a full 1 percent below its pre-pandemic level.
