Buyer’s Market

Over the last two years, we have seen the most historically active real estate market ever. When there is this much demand for real estate, eventually there will be winners and losers. Well, over the past two years, the winners have been sellers, without question. However, as the market begins to shift, buyer’s seem to be gaining momentum. While we will stop short of saying it is a buyers market, it is safe to say we are closer to one now than in recent history.

Not Yet, But Soon?

This seller’s market has became a lot more moderate over the last eight months. The trend of sellers losing favor is likely to continue as the Federal Reserve continues to tighten monetary policy. However, buyers are likely avoiding bidding wars, overwhelming competition, and no houses for sale. What we have noticed most in the year has been the return of certain aspects of the market that were non-existent over the past few months.

The return of contingencies in contracts is a positive for buyers. During the seller’s market we have seen, a lot of buyers were waiving inspection and appraisal contingencies. However, there are fewer people waiving their contingencies now than a few months ago. According to NAR (National Association of Realtors), the percentage of buyers waiving contingencies continues to decline. And a recent study from realtor.com shows that sellers are starting to consider these offers more and more again.

In their August study, we saw:

  • 95% of sellers reported buyers requested a home inspection
  • 67% of sellers negotiated with buyers on repairs as a result of the inspection findings

Buyer’s Market: Coming Soon

Sellers are also starting to work with buyers more throughout the months. We have seen an uptick in sellers helping buyers with closing costs again. This was fairly common before the pandemic real estate market. Today, as we see a shift from record demand to moderating demand, we will see a slight comeback from buyers. Eventually, when the economy slows enough, we will likely see an influx of buyers back to the market. However, as of now, with higher prices and higher rates, many buyers are looking to renting instead.

According to realtor.com, sellers paid some of all of buyer closing costs 32% of the time. This is up from the low single digits during the pandemic. This is an often forgotten negotiation tool, and now that buyers are getting closing cost help, more could buy. While we are not in a buyer’s market just yet, we are on the cusp of tipping into a neutral market. Next stop after neutral is buyer’s market.