You may have been hearing a lot from friends, colleagues, and news media about a market shift. Are the whispers true?
Yes, we’re definitely seeing a shift.
A market shift is a change in who is favored: buyers or sellers. Depending on your source, we’ve been in a seller’s market anywhere from seven to 11 years. Sellers get the upper hand when there’s less inventory and higher prices, meaning there’s more competition among buyers.
I always use a simple graph to explain how the market works, which you can see in the video at 0:50. The market goes up and down in a cycle; it rises to a peak, declines into a valley, and repeats. Buyers and agents can see that we’re in the declining stage of the curve due to price reductions and increased days on market. Sellers, however, think the market is still at its peak. As soon as sellers change their view on where the market is, we’ll likely see the market normalize.
The problem is that you don’t know what phase you’re in until you look backward. Luckily, when we look back on how things are changing, we’re not seeing a crash by any means. While the last crash was spurred on by financial instability, many people now have strong equity.
A shift toward a normalized market is a good thing—buyers have the opportunity to find great deals, and sellers can still get what their home is worth.
If you’re looking to buy or sell, have questions, or need more information, feel free to reach out to me. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
