Are We Actually in a Buyer's Market?

It’s becoming an age-old question: how’s the market this week? There are lots of factors to look at… number of homes on the market, median list and sales price, and mortgage rates. These are all numbers that vary wildly and can often be hard to pin down. So what is a rule one day may not be the next. However, experts are thinking that this most recent week (ending Aug. 6), might be shifting ever so slightly towards benefitting the buyer. 

Realtor.com’s chief economist, Danielle Hale, notes that this doesn’t mean a full-blown shift to a buyer’s market. There are still factors keeping the scales from fully tipping. Hale theorizes that “the seller’s market that has raged since the COVID-19 pandemic is still going strong, but all signs say the clock is ticking and its days are numbered.”

One factor that has her believing that the tides are turning is the rate at which prices are growing. This may be of little comfort to would-be buyers but price growth is inevitable. What experts look at is  HOW they’re growing. For the week ending Aug. 6, the average home list price still increased, but there’s a small indicator that the market is trending towards benefitting the buyer. 

Yes, prices have risen again, and again by double digits. Fifteen point five percent in just a week. This does mark 34 straight weeks of double digit price growth but it’s not all bad. While it’s growing, the actual double-digit rates ARE decelerating. For example, for the week ending July 23, home prices rose by 16.6%, followed by 15.6% the week ending July 30. So this week’s continued drop to 15.5% hike offers hope that home price growth might continue dwindling. This feels like a “good not great” scenario. Some hope, but also plenty of frustration.