THE HYDE REPORT
May 4, 2023
Buyer Activity Is Up Despite Higher Mortgage Rates
If you’re a homeowner thinking about making a move, you may wonder if it’s still a good time to sell your house. Here’s the good news. Even with higher mortgage rates, buyer traffic is actually picking up speed.
Data from the latest ShowingTime Showing Index, which is a measure of buyers actively touring homes, helps paint the picture of how much buyer demand has increased in recent months (see graph below):
As the graph shows, the first two months of 2023 saw a noticeable increase in buyer traffic. That’s likely because the limited number of homes for sale kept shoppers looking for homes even during colder months.
To help tell the story of why the latest report is significant, let’s compare foot traffic this February with each February for the last six years (see graph below). It shows this was one of the best Februarys for buyer activity we’ve seen in recent memory.
In the last six years, we saw the most February buyer traffic in 2021 and 2022 (shown in green above), but those years were highly unusual for the housing market. So, if we compare February 2023 with the more normal, pre-pandemic years, data shows this year still marks a clear rise in buyer activity.
The uptick in buyer traffic is even more noteworthy considering the increase in mortgage rates this February. The Freddie Mac 30-year fixed mortgage rate rose from 6.09% during the week of February 2nd to 6.50% in the week of February 23rd. But even with higher rates, more buyers were looking for a home.
Jeff Tucker, Senior Economist at Zillow, says the increased buyer activity could continue:
“More buyers will keep coming out of the woodwork. We always see a seasonal uptick in home shoppers in March and April . . .”
If you’re thinking of selling your house, seeing buyers still active in the market this year should be encouraging. It’s a sign buyers are out there and could be looking for a home just like yours.
Article source: Keeping Current Matters
My Bottom Line
With foot traffic on the rise that is a good sign for sellers. It is a matter of simple economics, The law of supply and demand. The more people that see your home directly reflects on the more offers you will get. Of course making sure your home is priced correctly is a huge influence on how many people show up. Most importantly the above data shows that even with interest rates on the rise buyers are getting back into the game. They are realizing that the important thing is to secure a home for themselves and use that asset for leverage in the future.
I have a lot of buyers right now that are asking the question if this is the time to buy or is the market going to crash and prices drop further. While this is a consideration for both sellers and buyers I think the above data helps tell the story. If you’re a seller, then now should still be a good time to get your top dollar and if you’re a buyer this data shows you the competition this spring seems to be heating up. I always tell buyers if you really love the home make a strong offer and in this market you should come out on top. Please feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions.
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LOCAL MARKET REPORT APRIL 2023
LOS ANGELES
Median Price – $1,395,000
Active Listings – 2115
New Listings ( last week) – 170
Median Days on Market – 53
WHITTIER
Median Price – $798,000
Active Listings – 66
New Listings ( last week) – 12
Median Days on Market – 35
ORANGE COUNTY
Median Price – $950,000
Active Listings – 3084
New Listings – 1852
Median Days on Market – 11
